y^ 


INSTITUTE    FOR    RESEARCH    IN    LAND    ECONOMICS 


Urban  Land  Economics 


LECTURES   BY 

Professor  Michael  Rostovtzeff 
Dr.  Mary  L.  Shine 
Professor  R.  H.  W^hitbeck 
Dr.  G.  B.  L.  Arner 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 

Dr.  Richard  T.  Ely,  Director 


"  Under  All,  The  Land  " 


"My  own  conviction  has  long  been  that  the  land  question  far  transcends  any  restricted  field  of 
economics  and  that  it  is  fundamental  to  national  survival  and  national  welfare.  It  is  truly  a  problem 
calling  for  statemanship  of  the  broadest  type." 

—Professor  Frank  A.  Fetter 


Copyright  1922 
R.  T.  Ely,  Director 

FOR  THE 

Institute  for  Research  in  Land  Economics 


Edwards  Brothers,  Publishers 
Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 


X73 


AL. 


INSTITUTE  POR  PJISEARGH   IN  TJ\ITD  P>COKOMICS 


URBAIT  LAED  ECOKOMICS 
Introduction 

Richard  T.    Ely,   Ph.   D- ,   LL.    D. 

Director,  Institute  for 
Research  in  Land  Economics 
and 
Professor  of  Economics, 
University  of  "^yisconsin 


"UlTDER  Ali,  THE  LAIID" 


"ITy  oY/n  co-aviction  has  long  "been  that 
the  land  question  far  transcends  any  re- 
stricted field  of  economicp  and  that  it 
is  fundamental  to  national  survival  and 
national  ?;elfare.   It  is  truly  a  problem 
calling  for  statesmanship  of  the  broad- 
est type."  -  Professor  Prank  A.  Petter. 


URBAir  LMD  3001TOMICS 
Introduction 

Richard  T.   Ely 

j'or  the  first  tirrie  a  course  is  nov;  being  given  in  Urban  Land 
Economics.   Yftien  one  considers  how  fundamental  this  subject  is, 
it  seems  strange,  indeed,  and  alnost  incredible.  Nevertheless  it 
is  in  harmony  v/ith  a  very  general  development  of  different 
scientific  subjects.   Adam  Smith  long  ago  called  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  Sorange  and  unfamiliar  first  attracts  scientific 
attention.   Astronomy  long  precedes  economics. 

It  is  believed  that  v;e  cannot  solve  satisfactorily  our 
various  urban  problems,  including  the   housing  problems  so  much 
discussed  now,  unless  we  approach  them  from  the  point  of  vievir  of 
the  land.   It  is  the  purpose  of  the  Institute  for  Research  in  Land 
Economics  to  develop  land  economics  in  its  various  phases  as 
essential  for  the  scientific  comprehension  and  the  pr.actical 
solution  of  economic  problems.  T/e  take  as  a  brief  motto  the  words 
of  Mr.  Forrest  Crissey,  "Under  all,  tlrie  Land,"  and  as  a  longer 
motto  these  words  of  Professor  Frank  A.  Fetter  of  Princeton 
University; 

Hy  ov/n  conviction  has  long  been  that 
the  land  question  far  transcends  any  re- 
stricted field  of  economics  and  that  it  is 
fundamental  to  national  survival  and  nation- 
al welfare.   It  is  truly  a  problem  calling 
for  statesmanship  of  the  "roadest  type. 

Last  summer  in  the  Adirondacks  I  v;orked  out  the  foliovdng 
outline  for  the  course  in  Urban  Land  Economics  as  announced  for 
the  second  semester  of  the  present  year,  to  be  given  by  myself 
in  cobperation  v/ith  Assistant  Professor  Martin  G.  Glaeser. 

UEBAE  LAllD  ECONOMICS 

as  outlined  by 

Richard  T.  Ely 

i.   LAiro  3ELECTI01T  Al©  UTILIZATTON 

A.  THE  URBAN  SITE 

Different  causes  operate  to  determine  this,  depend- 
ing upon  stages  reached  in  economic  evolution  and  the 
social  and  economic  conditions,  obtaining  in  these  stages. 


5D.a7.47 


1.  Tne  capital  as  the  seat  of  ecclesiastical 
and  political  a.uthority.   Cairo,  Jerus?,lem, 

Babylon,  iNTiusveh.  Athens,  Rome. 

2.  Early  cornmercis-l  cities.   Sodom,  Gomorrah, 
Carthage. 

3  Modern  cities  with  an  unbroken  history 
reaching  hack  to  the  Middle  Ages.   London,  Paris, 
Berlin. 

The  r-auses  of  their  survival  and  growth. 

Vienna  and  its  peculiar  position. 

4.  Economic  considerations  continually  in- 
creasing in  their  power  over  urhan  locations. 

^-   Military  considerations  ^nd  urhan  land. 

In  earlier  ages  and  at  the  present  time. 
The  old  walls  and  their  removal,  utili- 
zation of  land  thus  freed.  Ulm.  Vienna 
and  the  Ring  Strasse. 

6.  Man's  increasing  power  over  nature  as  seen 
in  urban  site  selections  and  urban  land  utilization. 

Advancing  stages  in  transport  and  com- 
munication.  The  v/heel  barrov/  and 
man's  back  (China);  animal  power; 
boat  transportation  by  rov/ing, 
Triremes,  etc.   Sails  and  the  power 
of  the  v;ind;  tlie  canals  and  animal 
power.   Nov/  other  m.otor  pov/er:  steam 
pov/er ;  auto-motors;  aeroplanes. 

Man's  increasing  pov/er  seen  in  the 

expansion  of  the  urban  area.   Zones 
of  expansion  and  concentration  and 
intermediate  zones.   Grov/th  and 
decay  of  cities  as  a  result. 

B.  SELSCTI017  OP  lAED  ^^/ITHIH  TtlE  CITY 

1.  With  respect  to  purpose;  areas  for  tr^^nsport  and 
communication.   Harbor' and  shore  lands. 

Land  used  for  commerce;  for  manufactures  and  for 
residences. 

Residential  land  classes  and  variation  in 
standards  in  different  countries  and  places. 

Aristocratic  classes  -  palaces. 

Areas  for  public  buildings. 

Collective  and  individual  selection.   Control 
by  public  authority,  by  restricted  use  in  deeds  and 
by  associations.   Public  opinion  and  its  limits. 
Racial  influences  a-nd  land  selection  and  la.nd 
values.   The  negroes. 

-2- 


II.   LAND  VALUES 

A.  HISTORICAL  K3TR0SEECT 

"What  is  knovm  about  early  land  values? 

(Rostovtzefi-V/esterman) 
Mediaeval  land  values. 

B.  CONTEMPORARY  LAND  VALUES. 

1.  R.M.  Kurd's  book.  King's  monograph. 
Rent  and  Values.   King's  formulas  (V.  his  article 

on  the  Building  ProST)ect  in  the  Architectural  Record, 
May,  1921). 

2.  Peace  and  prosperity  -  Degrees  of  stability 
of  values  and  its  importance  for  the  general  v/el- 
fare. 

5.  Land  planning  and  the  control  of  values. 

4.  Grov/th  of  population  and  land  values. 

5.  In  general,  forces  tending  to  increase  and 
decrease  land  values;  cominerce,  industry,  beauty, 
fashion. 

Growijag  v/ealth  and  land  values. 

The  classical  theories  and  Henry  George; 

the  test  of  experience. 

C.  EARIISD  AND  UlIEARNED  INCREMENTS  IN  VALUES  AND  ALSO 
DECRElilENTS 

III.  PUBLIC  UTILITIES  AND  UHBA^T  LANDS 

The   land  occupied  by  public   utilities  and 
payments   intc   the  public   treasury  made  by  public 
utilities.      Relation  of  these  payments   to  rent 
and   to    taxation. 

IV.  CITY  PIANNING  AND   ITS   RELATION  TO  URBAN  LA^TD  PROBLEMS 

Land  Planning   can  almost  be   said  to   be   the 
very  heart   of  urban  land  problems.      (V.    Aronovici's 
book  on  City  Planning  and  many  otliers;    especially 
reports  by  John  Nolen) 

V.  TAXATION  OF  UKBAl^  LAIRDS 

-3- 


VI.  El^LARGMEilT  OF   TIE  UK3A1T  A?J5A 

A.  BY  PUBLIC  ACTION 

B.  BY  PRIVATE  ACTION 

1.  Under   laissez   faire. 

2.  Under   control- 

VII.  URBAIT  LAM)  AITO  C01Q}SIi[NATI01T 

Its  principles  and  its  purposes, 

VIII.  UF3A1T  LALTD  Al^D  TIIE  HOUSING  PROBLEli 

A.  TENAIICY  Al-ID  HOME   O^.'ITERSKIP 

B.  THE  HOUSING   SHORTAGE 

Proposed  solutions;    single    tax;    the   Calder 
Bill;  Building  and  Loan  Associations;    constz-uc- 
tion  "b^"  public  authority  and  at  public   expense; 
construction  by  realty   companies   and  speculative 
building;    individual   construction. 

IX.  CITIES  AND  AGRI CULTURE  • 

A.  AGRICULTURAL  PRODUCTION  WITHIN  URBAN  AREAS 

The  significance   of  this   production  in  back 
lots,    larger  gardens    connected  v/ith  the  hone  and 
vacant  lots.      War  gardens  and  vacant  lots.      A  reserve 
and  an  anchor   to    the  v;indv/a.rd.      The  utilization  of 
othersise  unoccu-oied  labor-time   in  garden  produc- 
tion within  the   cities;.     Did  the   "¥ar  Gardens"   save 
the   situation  during   the  "World  'V/ar? 

B.  THE   CITIES  AS   A  STIirOLUS  AI-ID  A  I.IARKST   POR  AGRICUL- 
TURE 

C.  T3IE   CITIES  AS   RESIDENCES   OP  THE  AGRICULTURAL 
POPULATION 

1.  Tiiose  actively  engaged  in  agriaalture. 

2.  Retired  far:ners  and  their  prc'blenis. 

X.  URBAN  LAND  AS  AN  INVESTlvISNT 

Various  kinds  of  urban  land  investment;  purchase 
and  mortgage. 

-4- 


A.  AS  AN  IITVESTIEUT  ^-OR  PUBLIC  MD   Q,TIAS  I -PUBLIC 
BODIES  Am   IITSTITUTIONS:   AS   STATiiS ,    CITIES. 
COLLEGES,    HOSPIT.flJiS,    ETC.      TliE  Ei^GLISH 
COLLEGES   Al©  COLUlilBIA  COLLEGE   AS   Lj^JIDOV/tlERS. 

B.  PRIVATE  PURPOSES 

1.  Trusteeships  as   in  Boston;    estates  and 
their  growth;    the  bearing  of   tliese   developments 
on  the   fluidity  of  property  (perpetuities    -    the 
dead  hand,    e oc. ) 

2,  Individual   investments,    suitability  for 
various   economic   and  social   classes. 

XI.    THE    Om^RSIIIP    OP  URBAU  LAITO 

A.  Iin)IVrjUAL  OY.lfflRSHIP 

B.  COLLECTIVE    O'TIIERSHIP 

1.  Private   Corporations 

2.  Q,uasi-public  bodies,    including  religious, 
charitable   and  educational   institutions.    . 

3.  Public    ov/nership. 

C.  THE  FACTS  XJJi   THEIR  SIGiJIFICAPrCE 
The  trend  of  evolution. 


After  this  had  been  outlined,  discussions  vdth  Professor 
Michael  Rostovtzeff  led  me  to  invite  him  to  give  a  brief  course 
of  lectures  on  cities  in  the  ancient  v/orld  as  a  general  intro-_ 
duction.   A  presentation  T/hich  he  gave  of  large  land  holdings  in 
the  ancient  v;orld  before  the  Land  Problems  Seminar  during  the 
preceding  academic  year  had  shovm  his  interest  in  this  subject  and 
his  large  knowledge  of  it.  His  lectures  are  given  as  delivered. 
This  is  liae  first  time  the  ground  has  been  covered  and  Professor 
Rostovtzeff  found  it  much  more  difficult  than  he  supposed  to 
gather  together  the  needed  information.   This  simply  emphasizes 
the  fact,  already  alluded  to.  that  the  field  is  a  new  one.   In- 
cidentally it  may  be  mentioned  that  a  learned  monograph  by 
Professor  Rostovzefi  on  "A  Large  Estate  in  Egypt  in  the  Third 
Century  B.C."  has  just  been  published  as  one  of  the  University  oi 
Wisconsin  Studies  in  tlae  Social  Sciences  and  History. 

Fortunately  architects  are  beginning  to  appreciate  the  fact 
that  city  planning  and  housing  must  be  approached  from  the  point  oi 
viev/  of  land  economics.   This  has  been  admirably  brought  out  in  an 
article  by  Architect  George  Herbert  Gray,  in  the  Journal  of  the 

-5- 


American  Institute   of  Architects  for    October,    1921.      If  we  are 
to   solve   the  housing  prohlera  v/e  must  knov«   something  about   the 
various   proportions   in  vhich  the   different  elements   of   cost  enter 
into  the   value   of   the  houses    to   he   constructed.      The   follov/ing 
is    quoted  from  Mr.    Gray  and  it  will  he  seen   tliat   the   facts,    if  he 
is    correct,    are  not  what  a  good  manj'-   suppose   them  to   he.      "Rent 
includes   not   only  the    capitalization   of  the   ground  and  builc'ings 
theroselves,   but    general  maintenance,    insurance,    obsolescence, 
commonly  figured  at  about   40  per   cent,    leaving   60  per   cent  for 
the  cost   of  building  and  ground.      These   figures   give    the   following 
results : 

Rent  =   100  per   cent 

Proportion  of   rent  due  to   cost  (Less  maintenance,    etc.) 

of  building  and  grounds  =  60  per   cent 

Land  and  utilities  =  l/5   of  Buildings   and  Grounds, 

or   12  per  cent 
Rav,'  Land  =  1/2   of  Land  and  Utilities 

or   5  per   cent 

These  are  only  approximate  averace  figures  but  close  enough 
to  make  it  evident  that  the  rav/  land  is  not,  under  normal 
conditions,  a  factor  of  major  importance  in  residential  properties." 

Let  us  take  the  question  of  tajx  exemption  in  which  at  least 
a  partial  solution  has  been  attempted  in  New  York  City.   Tax 
exemption  comes  under  the  general  head  of  the  taxation  of  real 
estate  E.nd  before  a  satisfactory  anff'.ver  can  be  given  to  the 
problems  involved  in  tax  exemption  v/e  must  examine. the  whole 
subject  of  taxation  of  land  and  put  it  in  its  proper  place  in  the 
system  of  taxation. 

The  question  of  soning  as  part  of  the  v/hole  problem  of  city 
planning  finds  its  proper  place  ?-nd  its  relations  in  urban  land 
economics. 

Fundamental  in  scientific  work  and  practical  plans  in  urban 
land  economics  is  the  question  of  the  movement  of  urban  land 
values.   3o  far  as  I  am  aware  the  first  serious  study  of  this 
subject  ever  undertaken  is  that  v/hich  has  been  conducted  by 
Lr.  G.B-L.  Arner,  whose  lectures  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Insti'tute  for  Reaearch  in  Land  Economics  were  given  as  a  part  of 
the  work  on  urban  land  economics. ^  They  constitute  one  of  the 
most  valuable  parts  of  the  present  volume-   It  is,  however,  only 
just  to  state  that  this  v/ork  was  done  under  the  auspices  of  a 
committee  formed  and  financed  by  ITr .  Alexander  H.  3ing  of  Nev/  York 
City.   The  Co.iii-nittee  included  the  follov.ang  menbers:   Alexander  M. 
Bing,  Richard  S.  Childs,  Clarence  Stein,  Robert  D.  Kohn, 
Lawson  Purdy,  ITrederick  L.  Ackerman,  Robert  Murray  Haig, 
Graham  R.  Te.ylor,  Robert  E.  Simon,  Herbert  S.  Swann,  and 


^An  account  of  Dr.  Arner' s  researches  may  be  found  in  the 
Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  for  August,  1922. 

-6- 


CH.  "J^iitalcer.   Nobody  assumes  responsibility  for  these  results 
except  Dr.  Arner.   They  were  conducted  in  the  finest  scientific 
spirit  and  so  far  as  getting  preconceived  results  are  concerned, 
the  conclusions  naturally  drawn  were  quite  different  from  those 
anticipated  either  "by  Mr.  Bing  or  Dr.  Arner. 

As  the  subject  is  so  nev;  and  as  this  volume  doubtless  will 
reach  many  who  are  not  familiar  v/ith  the  genera.l  plane  and  work 
being  conducted  under  the  auspices  of  the  Institute  for  Research 
in  Land  Economics  and  of  the  University  of  T/isconsin,  it  is 
natural  to  suppose  tV^at  the  readers  will  desire  to  know  the  place 
that  urban  land  economics  occupies  in  the  general  work  in  land 
economics  and  to  knov;  what  we  understand  by  land  economics. 

Land  Economics  is  that  division  of  economics 
theoretical  and  applied,  which  is  concerned  v;ith 
the  land  as  an  economic  concept  and  with  the 
economic  relations  which  grow  out  of  land  as 
property. 

As  science,  land  economies  seeks  the  truth 
for  its  own  sake.   It  airas  to  understand  present 
facts  pertaining  to  land  ownership  in  all  their 
human  relationships,  to  e:cplain  their  development 
in  the  past,  and  to  discover  present  tendencies  of 
grov;th.  As  an  art,  it  aiiac  to  frame  constructive 
policies  for  particular  places  and  times. 

A  land  policy  takes  as  a  starting  point  the 
existing  situation  with  respect  to  the  land,  land 
as  here  used  being  equivalent  to  all  1!he   natural 
resources  of  the  country.   It  examines  the  processes 
of  evolution  by  which  the  existing  situation  has  been 
reached  a.nd  proceeds  to  develop  a  conscious  program 
of  social  control  with  respect  to  the  acquisition, 
ownership,  conservation  and  uses  of  the  land  of  the 
country  and  also  with  respect  to  the  human  relations 
arising  out  of  the  use  and  ownership. 

The  basic  v;ork  in  the  series  of  volumes  called  Outlines  of 
Land  Economics,  is  to  be  brought  out  in  three  voluiii:3s  this  autumn 
in  mimeographed  form  by  Edwards  Brothers  of  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan, 
who  are  bringing  out  this  present  work.   The  scope  of  the  work 
is  indicated  oy   the  table  of  contents,   This  is,  however, 
tentative  and  may  be  slightly  changed  in  a  few  particulars. 


Characteristics  and  Classification  of  Land 

Volume  I 
of 

OUTLINES   OF  LAilD  ECONOfflCS 


Chapter  I . 
Chapter  II. 

Chapter  III. 
Chapter   IV. 

Chapter  V. 
Chapter  VI  - 
Chapter  VII. 
Chapter  VIII - 

Chapter  IX. 
Chapter  X. 
Chapter  XI. 
Chapter  XII . 
Chapter  XIII. 
Chapter  XIV. 
Chapter  XV. 
Chapter  XVI. 
Chapter  XVII ^ 


Land  Economics,   Defined  and  Described 

Property,   Defined  and  Described;    The 
Economic   Significance   of  Property- 
Relations 

Land  Defined:      Its   Characteristics   and 
Peculiarities 

Tlie   Characteristics   and  Peculiarities 
of   Capital  Contrasted  vdth  the  Char- 
acteristics  and  Peculiarities   of  Land 

Land  Classification 

Land  Utilization 

Qualitative   Order   of  Land  Utilization 

Possibilities   of  Increasing  the  Economic 
Supply  of  Land 

Agricultural  Land 

Range   and  Ranch  Land 

Forest  Land 

Mineral  Land 

Ownership  of  Water 

Shore  Lands  and  Riparian  Rights 

Land  Beneath  the  "I'.'ater 

Public  Utility  Land 

Urban  Land 


Costs  and  Income  in  Land  Utilization 

Volume  II 

of 

OUTLItTES  0?  LAND  EC01I0MIC3 


Chapter  I . 
Chapter  II. 
Chapter  III. 
Chapter  IV. 
Chapter  V. 
Chapter  VI. 

Chapter  VII. 
Chapter  VIII 

Chapter  IX. 

Chapter  X. 

Chapter  XI. 

Chapter  XII. 

Appendix:: 


Introduction  -  The  Term  Rent 
Rent  and  Surplus 

The  Snergin'3  Costa  in  Lend  Utilizr.tion 

The  Margins  of  Production 

Elements  in  Land  Income 

Pactors  that  do  not  enter  into  Land 
Incoiue 

Land  Incorae  and  La,nd  Valve 

Land  Income  and  the  Various  Kinds 
of  Land 

Urban  Bents 

7fe.ter  Rents   and  Public  Utility  Land 
Rents 

Land  Incorae   a.e  Determined  bj'-  Custom, 
Competition  and  Monopoly, 

The   Socialization  of  Rent 

Land  Values    in  lTe"w  York  City 


-9- 


Land  Policies 
Volume  III 
of 

OUTLINES  OP  LAML  ECONOinCS 


Chapter  I . 

Chapter  II, 

Chapter  III. 
Chapter  IV. 
Chapter  V. 
Chapter  VI. 
Chapter  VII. 
Chapter  VIII. 

Chapter  IX. 
Appendix: 

Chapter  I. 

Chapter  II. 

Chapter  III. 

Chapter  IV. 

Chapter  V. 


jjand  Settlement  and  Home  Ownership  - 
A  General  Survey 

Land  Holdings 

Tenancy  and  Ownership  of  Land 

Leasehold  vs.  Freehold 

Land  Credit 

The  Taxation  of  Land 

The  Land  Business 

Land  Policies    and   the  V/orld's  Sood 
Supply 

A  National  Policy  for  Land  Utilization 


Private  Colcnization  of  Land 

Speculation   in  Land 

Luck  and  Chance   in  Success  and  Failure 

Conservation  and  Economic  Theory 

Points   to   'be   Considered  in  Investigations 
of  Landed  Property 


■10- 


Boolcs  have  "been  published  on  many  of  the  topics  v;hich  fall 
within  the  scope  of  land  economics,  hut  they  have  appeared  to  l^ck 
close  relationship  with  one  another-   This  idea  of  land  economics 
places  these  v/orks  in  their  proper  relation.^  to  each  other,  and 
gives  them  a  unity  which  it  is  believed  will  he  helpful 
scientifically  and  practically.   It  is  hoped  that  it  v/ill  very 
greatly  "broaden  out  the  interest  in  the  subjects  that  fall  within 
our  field.  Economic  students  of  land  problems  have  too  generally 
failed  to  appreciate  the  fact  that  land  planning,  both  urban  and 
agricultural,  is  absolutely  essential  to  their  solution.   On  the 
other  hand,  city  planners  have  too  generally  failed  to  appreciate 
that  fundamentally  their  work  must  be  based  upon  economics.  Land 
economics,  the   as  a  concept  opens  up  a  great  practical  and 
scientific  field. 

Urban  land  economics,  it  v/ill  then  be  seen,  is  simply  a 
development  of  one  chapter  or  division  (using  the  more  general 
terra)  of  the  Outlines  of  Land  Economics .  Economics  of  Porestry 
is  the  development  of  another  division  of  the  general  field.   The 
Outlines  of  Land  Economics  corresponds  precisely  to  the  Outlines 
of  Economics  as  a  general  treatise.   The  Outlines  of  Economics 
surveys  the  general  field,  but  many  of  the  larger  topics  have  been 
developed  into  independent  treatises.  Money,  banking,  railways, 
etc.  afford  illustrations.   Similarly,  we  are  developing  the 
several  topics  covered  by  the  Outlines  of  Land  Economics.  All 
this  may  be  made  clearer  by  the  following  list  of  books  for  which 
more  or  less  definite  plans  have  already  been  made. 

1.  Agricultural  Economics  -  H.C-  Taylor 

2.  Economics  of  Forest  Land  -  Henry  S.  Graves^ 

3.  Characteristics  and  Classification  of  Land, 
Volume  I  in  Outlines  of  Land  Economics  - 
Richard  T.  Ely*- 2; 

4.  Costs  and  Income  in  Land  Utilization,  Volume  I?  > 
in  Outlines  of  Land  Economics  -  Richard  T.  Elyv^j 

5.  Land  Policies,  Volume  III  in  Outlines  of  Land 
Economics  -  Richard  T.  Ely^^j 

iZ) 

6.  The   Taxation   of  Land  -  Richard  T.   Ely^     ' 

7.  Marketing   of  Earm  Ero ducts    -   Theodore  Macklin^-^^ 

(3) 

8.  Cooperative  Marketing  Organization  -  Theodore  Macklm 

*■  (Already  published 
~|ln  press 
"^'lu  actual  preparation. 

In  cases  where  no  name  is  stated,  arrangements  with  the 
authors  have  not  ocen   completed-   Announcement  of  the  names  of 
the  writers  will  be  made  later. 

-11- 


9.   Scononiics   ox'  Marketing. 

10.  The  1/fc.rketing  of  VJhole  Talk  -  H.E.  Erdman ^ "'■ ' 

11.  SconoiTiics    of  liineral  Lands ^'^'-   John  3-    Orchard 

(3) 


1%  ' 
12.  Economics  oi"  Coal^"'-  John  E.  Orchard 


13-  Irrigation  Institutions  -  Elv/ood  Mead 

14.  Rural  Sociolrgy  -  CJ.  Galpin^"^' 

15.  Land  Utilisation 

16.  P.ange  and  Ranch  Land^^' 

17.  History  oi  Federal  Land  Policies  -  3.H.  Hihhard 

18.  Land  Valuation 

19.  Urban  Land. Policies  -  Ridiard  T-  Ely  and 
Associates'^' 

20.  Introduction  to  Agricultural  Economics  - 
L.C.  Gray'2J 

21.  Economics  of  Water  Resources 

22.  The  O'.vnership  and  Tenancy  of  Agricultural  Land 
B.H.  Hibbard  and  G.S.  Wehrwein^^S) 

23.  The  Marketing  of  Manufactured  Products'^) 

,(3) 


(3) 


24.    The   Single   Tax  -  E.B.    Garver^ 

.,Pr( 
,(3j 


25.    The  Real  Estate  Business   as   a,Pjrofession  - 
Richard  T.   Sly  and  Associates 


(3  ) 

26.  Land  and  Credit   ^ 

27.  Farm  Organization  ^^ 

28.  Agricultural  CSoperation^"^  "^ 

29.  Farm  Bookkeeping^^ ^ 

30-  The  Law  of  City  Planning  and  Zoning  -  Frank 
B.  'Williams^  ^^ 

51.  Special  Assessments 

32.  Land  Problems  of  Planning 

33.  Frontier  Finance  in  the  United  States 


34.  Land  Values    in   the   Gotten  States 

35.  Land  Values    in   the  Grain  States 

36.  Urban  La.nd  .Economics   -  Richard  T.    Ely   and 
AFSociates  '>.^  ) 

In  addition   to    tl.e   lectures  v/hich  are   in  mimeographed  form 
constituting   the  present  volume   other   lectures  were  planned  as 
follov.-s: 

Cities   and  Agriculture 

Agricultural  production  within  cities    - 
George   E.   ",7ehr\7ein. 

Cities    as   residences   of   agricultural 
population  -■  B.H.-   HilD'bard 
Cities   as    stiTiiulns    and  market   for   agri- 
culture  -   Theodore  Macklin 

Puhlic  Utilities   -  M.G.    Glaeser 

Condemnation  -  M.G.    Glaeser 

City  Planning   -  M.G.    Glaeser 

Enlargement   of  City  Areas    -  M.G.    Glaeser 

Housing  -  M.G.    Gla.eser 

Taxation   of  Land  -  H.B.    Dorau 

Land  Ov;nership   -  ULcliard  T.   Sly 
Individual 
Collective 
TQie    facts   and   their   trend 

Urban  Land  as    3j\  Investment   -  Richard  T.    Ely 

Conclusion   -  Richard  T.    Sly 

^"'■'Por   a  variety  of  reasons    the   lectures   I  had  planned  for  myself 
had  to   be   condensed  into   a  brief   survey  at  the   close   of    the   course ^ 
One  of    the  principal   reasons  v/as   to   give   opportunity   to    the    other 
participants   in   the    course,    as   they  required  nearly  all   the   too 
brief  periods,    two  hours   a  week,    set   aside  for    this   course.      In 
addition  to    tv/o  hours   a  week   for  lectures,    one  hour  was    given 
to   quizzes    conducted  by  my   associate,   Mr.    Gla,eser. 


•  13" 


It  seemed  desiraole  to  cast  about  and  see  what  resources  we 
had  for  this  work.  "V/hile  I  have  been  much  gratified  to  find  how 
rich  these  resources  are  and  feel  well  pleased  with  this  first 
attempt  in  a  course  in  urban  land  economics,  the  course  vail  be 
quite  different  as  given  hereafter  and  will  be  more  unified.  This 
statement  is  simply  made  to  explain  to  those  interested  what  is 
planned  for  the  future.   Pedagogically  a  course  divided  among  so 
many  different  people  is  not  sound  as  a  permanent  arrangement, 
but  it  has  proved  helpful  under  the  existing  circumstances.   It 
is  quite  possible  that  as  time  goes  on,  two  or  three  different 
courses  may  develop  out  of  this  one  course  in  urban  land 
economics.  May  I  take  this  opportunity  to  express  my  warm 
appreciation  of  the  cordial  coBperation  I  have  received  from 
those  who  have  participated  in  this  course. 

The  place  and  significance  of  the  present  work  will  be  made 
still  clearer  by  some  further  information  about  the  Institute _ 
for  Research  in  Land  Economics ,  in  viiich  the  needs  for  investi- 
gation is  emphasized. 

The  Institute  for  Research  in  Land  Economics  was  founded  in 
October,  1920.   It  has  a  staff  of  resident  research  workers  and 
has  the  cooperation  of  a  number  of  professors  in  universities  and 
agricultural  colleges,  and  members  of  federal  and  state  depart- 
ments of  agriculture.   A  group  of  mature  and  experienced  graduate 
students  has  joined  in  its  studies.   The  Institute  has  begun  a 
number  of  investigations,  and  will,  as  it  expands,  take  up  others 
for  ■vshich  the  need  is  great. 

V/e  are  face  to  face  with  the  gravest  economic.s^problenr 
arising  out  of  landed  property  -  problems  that  lie  at  the  very 
foundation  of  our  economic  life;  and  v^hen  we  turn  to  economic 
treatises  v/e  find  little  to  help  us  in  their  solution. 

Thoughtful  men  of  affairs  must  realize  the  significance 
of  landed  property  and  all  the  arrangements  that  are  connected 
with  it  as  soon  as  these  things  are  called  seriously  to  oheir 
attention.   Some  of  them  already  show  an  appreciation  of  what 
land  questions  mean  for  the  future  of  civilization-   Especially 
significant  is  the  following  quotation  from  the  late  Jaraes 
J.  Hill,  whose  greatness  and  experience  in  developing  a  vast 
inland  empire  entitle  his  words  to  careful  consideration- 

Land  without  population  is  a  wilderness  and 
population  without  land  is  a  mob.   The  United  States 
has  many  social,  political,  and  economic  questions  - 
some  old,  some  new  -  to  settle  in  the  near  future; 
but  none  so  fundamental  as  the  true  relation  of  the 
land  to  the  national  life.   The  first  act  in  the 
progress  of  any  civilization  is  to  provide  homes  for 
those  who  desire  to  sit  under  their  ov;n  vine  and  fig 
trees.   A  prosperaus  agricultural  interest  is  to  a 
nation  what  good  digestion  is  to  a  man- 

-14- 


This  relationship  of  the  land  to  the  national  life  is  a 
question  of  property  when  we  reach  its  heart,  and  all  investigations 
of  land  problems  which  do  not  find  their  center  in  tlie  institutions 
of  property  must  be  superficial  and  unsatisfactory,  leading  to  no 
permanent  solutions. 

Staff  and  V/ork  in  Progress. 

Members  Present  Subject  of  Resegrch 

Richard  T.  Ely Outlines  of  Land  Economics 

Urban  Land  Economics 
The  Taxation  of  Land 

B.  H.  Hibbard Tenancy 

History  of  Federal  Land  Policies 

P.L.  Paxson Land  Problems  of  the  American 

Frontier 

U.    Rostovtzeff Land  Problems   in    the  Ancient  V/orld 

M.G.    Glaeser    Public  Utility  Lands 

Shore  Lands 

H-B.   Dorau   Public  Utilities 

The  Taxation   of  Land 

A.J.    Altraeyer    Statistics 

Special  Assessments 
Relation  of  Land  Values    to 
Public  Expenditures 

O.E.   Baker    Land  Utilization 

G.S-   Wehrwein Large  Land  Holdings 

Parra  Tenancy 

Public  Land  Policies 

Dr.   G.B.L.   A.rner Urban  Land  Values 

Mary  L.    Shine The  Leasehold  vs.    The  Freehold. 

Instances  of  Attempts  to  establish 
the  leasehold  system  in  the  United 
States 

Ideas   of  the   Founders   of   the  i^jnerican 
Nation  on  Landed  Property 

Bibliography   for  Land  Economics 

D.D-    Lescohier Land  and  Labor 

Agricultural  Labor 

Clara  F.   Wigder    Secretary  and  Research  Assistant 

-ID- 


The   character   of   the  Institute    is   further   indicated  by  the 
Board  of  Trustees,   v/hicn  consists   of   the   following  gentlemen: 

Justice  M.B.    Kosenberry   (Supreme  Court  of  T.'isconsin) 
President   of   the  Board   of   Trustees 

Richard  I.   Ely   (Professor   of  Economics,   University  of 
Vasconsin)      Director   of  Research 

John  H.    Pinley   (Late   Commissioner   of  Education  of   the 
State   of  r-jv/  York  and  President  of   the  University 
of   the   Sta-ue   of  New  York.      Nov;  of   the   editorial 
department   of   the  New  York   times) 

Colonel  Henry  S.    Graves    (Ex-Chief   of    the  United  States 
Pcrest   Service) 

Henry  C    Taylor   (Chief,   Bureau  of  Agricultural  Economics, 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture) 

¥.  S.   Kies    (Banker,   Aldred  and  Company,   New  York   City) 

Albert   Shaw,    (Editor,    The  Araerican  Review   of  Reviews) 

Finally,    it  may  be   said  that   the  Institute   for  Research  in 
Land  Economics  has   no   private   aims.      All   the   funds  \^/nich   are 
received  are   devoted  to    its   work   just   as   in  the   case   of  an 
endowed  university. 

Richard  T.   Ely 

Director,  Institute  for  Research 
in  Land  Economics 


Madison,  T/isconsin, 
May  15,  19  22. 


-16' 


INSTITUTE  FOR  RESEARCH   IH  lAlTO  ECONOMICS 


URBAN  LAND  ECONOMICS 


Cities    in  the  Ancient  I'orld 


■by 


Michael  I.  Rostovtzeif,  LL .  D. ,  Litt.  D. 

Professor  oi"  History, 
University  of  Wisconsin. 


"mOER  ALL,  THE  LAilD" 


■'My  cvm  conviction  has  long  teen  tiaat 
the  land  qviestion  far  transcends  any  re- 
stricted field  of  economics  and  that  it 
is  fundamental  to  national  survival  and 
national  welfare-   It  is  trulj'-  a  problem 
calling  for  statesmanship  of  the  broad- 
est type."  -  Professor  Prank  A.  Fetter. 


Lecture  I.  February  7,  1922. 

The  Prehistoric  Citios  and  the  Cities  of  the  Ancient  Orient. 

Professor  Rostovtzeff:   Professor  Ely,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

I  do  not  know  v;hether  or  not  my  course  will  he  on  land 
economics,  but  it  v/ill  be  on  economic  and  social  conditions,  that 
is  sure.   Now,  what  is  my  purpose  in  giving  this  short  introduction 
to  your  work?  It  is  to  interpret  one  of  the  main  problems  of 
modern  economic  and  social  life.   I  do  not  know  if  you,  being 
Americans,  grasp  entirely  the  importance  of  this  problem;  but  I, 
being  a  Russian,  grasp  it  fully  and  entirely.   Now  you  will  ask, 
"VJhy?"   I  will  tell  you.   The  problem  I  mean  is  the  problem  pro- 
duced by  the  existence  in  our  social  life  of  two  different  types 
of  men,  the  country  people  and  the  city  people.   Of  course,  these 
two  types  exist  in  this^ country  also,  but,  as  far  as  I  know,  there 
is  no  such  sharp  antagonism,  so  sharp  a  contrast  between  these  two 
types  as  there  is,  for  exaaTiple,  in  Russia  and  to  a  lesser  extent 
in  Western  Europe. 

If  you  think  of  what  is  happening  now  in  Russia  you  will 
find  that  the  main  thing  is  just  this  contrast  between  the 
country  population  -  .the  peasants  -  and  the  city  population, 
v;hiGh  comes  in  very  sharp  crises  of  Russian  life-   There  is,  you 
see,  a  kind  of  suspicion  and  hatred  which  the  country  population, 
the  peasants, feel  toward  the  city  population.   They  think  that 
the  city  population  are  parasites,  living  at  their,  the  peasants', 
expense;  and  at  the  same  time  that  the  city  people  are  living  at 
the  peasants'  expense,  they  are  the  masters  and  rulers,  they  de- 
cide the  political  and  social  conduct. 

Such  IE  the  situation  in  Russia.   It  was  in  formation  for 
centuries;  it  is  not  a  thing  which  was  formed  during  the  last 
few  years.  Beginning  with  the  earliest  periods  in  the  history 
of  Russia,  this  contrast  v;as  in  formation,  and  the  outbreaks  and 
the  revolts  cf  the  peasants  against  the  cities  are,  in  Russia, 
as  old  as  the  15th  and  16th  centuries.  Now,  is  such  a  rivalry, 
such  an  antagonism,  confined  to  Russia?  No'.   Here  in  America 
it  is  less  marked,  although  the  economic  interests  of  the  country 
population  do  not  coincide  with  tlie  economic  life  of  the  city 
population.   You  see  it  just  now  in  Western  Europe.   If  you  take, 
for  example,  Germany  v.lth  her  large  population  of  peasants;  if 
you  take  such  countries  as  Austria  and  the  nev-/  countries  that 
formerly  formed  a  part  of  Austria;  and  partly  what  v/as  a  part  of 
Turkey,  like  Rouraania;  if  you  take  France  -  i  do  not  speak  of 
England,  Where  tlie  contrast  is  not  so  marked  -  you  v/ill  see  that 
there  is  the  same  contrast,  there  a,re  the  same  two  types.   Now, 
if  you  look  at  our  civilization  as  our  civilization  v;as  formed, 
you  must  say  that  it  is  a  city  civilization.   It  was  formed  in 
and  by  city  people.   Everything  which  was  new  in  our  "i 

civilization  was  first  started  m  the  city  and  gradually  and   / 
very  slowly  spread  to  tlie  country  parts  of  the  land.  J 

-18- 


■vniat   is   the   origin  of   this    contrast  which   cannot   be    denied? 
The   origin   of  this    contrast,    like   tlie   origin   of   our   civilization 
in  general,    lie?    in   tiie  ancient  world.      And,    one   of   the  main 
causes,    as   I  v/ill   shov;   you   later,    of   the   decay   of  the    ancient 
v/orld  was  a  process  vAiich  v;as   very  much   like   tlie  process  which 
novi7  is   going   on  in  Russia.      This   contrast  betv/een   city  and  country 
population,    this  hatred  hetv/een  the   two    classes    existed   and  the 
v;ar  v.'as   waged   and  organized  "by  the   country  against   the   city 
population,    especially  in   the" third  century  A.    D.      Afterward  the 
Roman  Erapxie   and  later   tlie  Byzantine  Empire  based   its  pov/er   on   the 
peasant   class.      But   the  Roman   civilization  will  be   the   special 
subject    of  ny   last  lecture. 

Y.aiat   are   the   origins   of  this   contrast  and  this   antagonism?  'Xia 
axe     the   origins   of   cities   and  why  in   the  ancient  world,    as  you 
see    it    depicted  by  our   literary,    our   documentary  evidence,    is 
this  ancient  world  a  v/orld   of  cities?      If   you   read  -    read   every 
ancient  v/riter  you  like   -   you  will   find  that  life,    really 
civilized  life,   was   a  city  life.      They  did  not   think   of  themselves 
_as_iivi.ng  outside  and  not  in  close   connection  with   the   city.     You 
"have   some   idyllic    tendencies,    people  looking   tov/ard   the   country, 
'but^  these   are^  few   in  Greece  and  Roman  times.     But   life   in   the 

^country   is^  not  life, Life   and..city_are    identical.      If  you  take 

The^Rbman  Srapire   and   the  Hellenistic  monarchies   and  even   the  Greek 
world  from  the  point   of  view  of  political,    social  and  economic 
life,    you  v/ill   see   there   an  agglomeration   of   cities. 

V/hat   is    the   origin   of   the    conditions  which  are  very  near  to 
modern   conditions,   where   cities  are  grov/ing  in   importance   and  land 
and   ccuntr;^  are  retreating,    just  as   you   see,    to   the  background, 
but  remaining  a.t   the  same   time   the  real   economic  background  of 
existence   of    cities.     Koxv,    the   cities   naturally   rule,    dictate   to 
the   country,    and  the   country  usually  obeys   the   orders.      If  they  do • 
not,    Russian   conditions    come  out   -   revolt  and   civil  war. 

7/l-ien  Professor  ISly  was   kind  enough   to    invite  me   to    give  you 
my   introduction  to    the   course   in  urban  la.nd   economics,    I    thought 
m.y   task  v;as   asi   easy  one.      I  would  place   a  textbook   in  your  hands 
and  I   v^ould   give   you  riy   comments   on  the   text  book.      Great  was  my  ^ 
astonishiTient  when  I    saw   that  no   textbook   of   this  kind   exists,    and 
not   only  that  no   textbook  exists  but   even   that^^no    serious 
research  was  ever  done   in   this   line.      So  what  j.   am  giving  youis 
entireljr  ray  own  and  my  ov/n  ideas,   my   ov/n  arrangement   of  material, 
and  my   cvm' scale   of  evolution.     That   is  why   I    cannot   tell   you  Yiiat 
textbook  you  could  take   to    help  yourselves   in  following  ray   course. 
Of   course   every   textbook   on  a,ncient  history  would   do,   but   ths.t   is 
only  the   background.     You  v/ill  find  almost   no  v;ord  of  what  I  have 
told  you.      Very  little   about  political  and   social   conditions.  ¥fers 
are   about  all.     But  as   a  background   of  what   I   am  going  to    tell  you, 
of  course   every  book  on  ancient  history  vrauld  do.      The  best   one, 
ao  far   as   I   know,    is   the  book  of  Professor  Breasted  of  Chicago, 
Ancient   Times,   because  he  pays  much  more   attention  than   anyone 
else   to"  the   development   of   civilization   in  the   ancient  world. 
But  I   have   no  book   to   naine  v;hich  M/ouid  take   the  political   and 

-19- 


social   conditions    into    co^siderationj   •'.7hich   is   one   of  the  most 
Important  bases   oi"  development   of  historical   evolution.      So   you 
lee  what  I   am  giving  you  is  my  own  coordination  of  existing 
material.      Of   course,    there    is   no   lack  of  material.      There   is 
plenty.      On   one  hand  we  have   the   ancient  writers;    on  the    other 
hand  we  have   thousands    of  official   documents,    thousands  and  thou- 
sands  of   documents    of  a  private   nature,    contracts,    leasehold 
contracts,    and  sale   contracts;    everything   that   you  have   in  modern 
life   is    represented  among   the   documents   of  the    ancient  world  and 
in   the   oriental,   Babylonian,    and  Egyptian   civilization.      You  have 
finally    the   result   of  years    and  years    of  a.rchaeologi  cai    in- 
vestigation and  excavations  which   first  made  us   acquainted  v/ith 
the    city,    not  as   described  by  someone,    but   as    it  was.      Just 
imagine  what  would  happen   if  Ma.dison  a.nd  all   the   other   cities   of 
America  would  decay  in   the    same  viB.y.   and   after   2,000  years  some- 
one v/culd  cor.-e  and  excavate   and  fii.d   cities   still   having  buildings 
left,    but  with  the   inhabitants   gone,    not  exterminated  at    once, 
but  having   died  out  gradually.      Nov;  just   imagine   that  such   an 
accident  as   the  eruption   of    a  volcano,   Vesuvius,   would  bury  a 
large   flourishing  city  with  all   tlie  houses,    temples,    etc.,    etc, 
and  that  you  would  excavate    it  again.      "7/ould  you  not  get  a   real, 
vivid,    lovely  picture   of  what   the  city  was?      So   I  v/culd   say   that 
arciiR£o2^o^i^aJ._jnaterial   is   one   of  the  most   impdrtrant  for   maJctrrg 
ourTxl e as   of "^he  ancient   cities   clear  and  precise,   and  that   is 
Wh.y-1  5.m.  going  to  use   very  much  the  archaeological  material,    and 
that   i'S  v/h3^"3C"oyganized  my   lectures   in   this  way.      In  one   lecture 
hour  I  will  give  a  taik  and   the  next   lecture  hour  I  will   give  ySu 
pictures    illustrating   the    talk  of   tiie   foregoing  lecture. 

Let  me   nov/  come   to   ^y   own  subject   in  this    introduction. 
Of   course  I    cannot   tell  you  what   century   it  was  when   the    first 
cities    appeared,    but  I    can   tell  you  approximately   that  a.s    long 
as  mankind  existed  and  as   long  as  men  were   living  not  as 
individuals    or   in  quite   small   groups,    as    long  as    the   social   life 
had   its    first   start,    some   attempts   at  crea.ting   cities   existed. 
The   first  groups   of  men  living  together   in   one    place  and  having 
a  social   life   of   the   group   is   just  a   city.      Because  v/hat    do   wel 
T^e&n  by   city?     First   of  all,    an  agglomeration   of  men  living  in' 
any  one  pla.ce,    and  second,    and  that  was   more   important   in   the 
ancient  v/orld,    that   this   group  was   a  unit   from  the   social,    the 
economic,    and  especially  the  political  point   of  viev;.      ITow,    the  \ 
origin   of  such  a  group,    social,    economic   and  political   group,    is 
as   old  as,    I    should  say,    the  paleolithic   age,   when  men  did  not     ' 
knov;  anything  £ibout   the  netals  and  they  did  not  knov*?  how   to  polish 
the    stones  which  v/ere  used  as    tools.      At   this    time  archaeologists 
have  already   discovered  large    cave   cities,    cities   consisting  of 
scores   and  sometimes   hundreds   of  caves   cut   into    the   rock   or   into 
a  bank  of  a  river.      It   is   interesting  tl^at  such   cave   cities  still 
exist  and  in  great   quantities.      You  have  some   such  cave    cities    in 
Asia  Minor,    and  Strabo,    a  contemporary  of  the  Eiaperor  Augustus, 
who   lived  in  the   first   century  B.C.,    er.d  the    first   century  A-D.  ,     ' 
gave  a  vivid   description  of   such   cities-      I   myself  visited   such 
cities    in  the  Crimea.      They   are   an   outstanding   feature   of  some   of 

-20- 


the   Criir.ean  ancient   dv/eliings.      These  T;ere  used  in  the  prehistoric 
time  and  again  they  are  used  as   living  roons  by   the   inhabitants, 
but    tlieir   origin   is  prehistoric. 

The  more   elaborate   forms   oi   villages  and  cities,    because 
there    is    no   real   difference  as   yet  betv/een   the   -pillage   and  the 
city,    appear  in   the   neolithic   age.      In  the   neolithic   period  you 
already  have  more    elaborate   types   of  group  dwellings,    of   cities, 
and  of  viila,ges.      I  v/ill   show  you  next   time  some   slides    illustrat- 
ing  the   different   types    of   these   dv/eliings. 

The  most   important   forms   are,    first,    the   lake   divellings; 
second,    the  reproduction  of   the  pile    or   lal:e   dwellings   on  dry 
land;    third,    villages   Torotected  by  v;alls   not  yet  made   of    stone 
but   of  earth.      These  last  villages  v/ere   of  two   types  .  ^  The   first 
are  villages  v/hich  v.-ere   refuges   on  tops   of  mountains    for   the  pop- 
ulation TThich  lived  aroxind  this   refuge   and  larger  villages  mostly 
in  the  plain  v/hich   included  many  houses   and  were   surrounded  by  a 
strong  wall,   -where  people   lived  rith  their  cattle  and  had  gardens 
inside  the  \vall.      The  second   type   of   large  villages  v/ere  not 
only  dwelling  places,   but   economic   centers   of  agriculture,    and 
they  are  mostly  characteristic   for   central  Europe   and  especially 
for   the   Slavs,    tiie  Germans  and,    partly,    the  Celts,    although  the 
Celts   knov/  more   of   the   city  as   a  refuge.      A  nev;  tyjpe   derived 
from  these  villages  was   a  city  a.s   a   center   of   a  real  state,   v/ith 
a  king   at  tiie  head  of  the   state,    the   residence   of  this  king  being 
the   center  of   the  city  and  dominating   the   country  which  lay 
around  the   city.      This   nev/   type   of  city  is  the  evolution  of  the 
city  refuge  and  I  v/ili  speak  of  it  later  on. 

Viiat  is  the   leading  feature,    the   leading   cause,    which  brought 
people    to  build  such   cities?      If  you  look  at   the    cities  as  such 
you  v.'ill   see   that   the  leading  features   are   the    fortifications. 
The   cities  were  built   first   of  all  to   protect  the  population  from 
wild  beasts  and  from  the  neighboring  men, as,  for  example,    the  lai:e 
dwellings.      These  are   large   villages  bailt   on  piles    in  lakes   very 
far   rrom  shore.      They  a,re   connected  v/ith   the    land  by  means    of 
wooden  bridges,    sometimes   very  long,    vliich  could  be   taken  av/ay 
at    tlie    first  alarm.      The  reproduction  of   ttiese   large   dwellings 
on   dry   land  v/as    dictated  by   tlie   same   considerations.      The   terra- 
m-are   in  Italy  (so   called  because  later   on  v;hen   the   city   decayed, 
the  places   of    these   cities,    the  mounds,    consisted   of  blacic   earth 
and  black  earth  means    in  Itclian  terra  marna)    are    just   re- 
mains   of   cities  built   in  imitation  of  lake   dwellings.      Probably 
a  population  which  was  used   to   life    in  lakes    came    to    Italy,    found 
no  lakes,    and  im.itated,    for  protection,    tiie  lake   dwellings.      The 
same   leading  feature   is    characteristic   for  the    other  villages   of 
the   neolithic  and  of   the   early  metal  ages:    the   -iTillages   of   the 
neolithic  age,    so   far  as  v/e  know,    are  all   fortified.      I   know  of 
no   one   vhich  v/as   not   fortified.      Such  are   the  prehistoric  be- 
ginnings. 

-21- 


But  you  iinc'.v   that  prehistoric   life  v;as   transferred   ir.to 
historical  life   in  the  IJear  East  and  especially   in  tv/o  places: 
the   first   is  Egypt,    the  second,   Mesopotamia.      These    countries 
are  bimiiar  from  the   geological  and  econoraic  points   of   viev/;   "both 
have  hig   rivers,    and  very  rich  alluvial   soil.      In    Vae  very  be- 
giiinings    life  developed  here   just  as    it   did  in  other  parts    of 
Asia  and  Europe.      There  are   here   the    same   fortified  villages 
as   the  earliest  dv/elling  places   of  men.     However,    in  the   ancient 
orient,    and  not  only  in  these  alluvial  places   of   the  rivers,    but 
also   in   central  Asia  and  in   the   southern   Caucasus  and  in  Asia 
Minor  and  even   in  parts   of  Greece,    -   everyv/here   you  have  a  peculiar 
evolution  of   the   political,    economic   and  social   conditions,      I  have 
no   time   to    explain  to  you  as   far  as   I   understand  it,    the   reasons 
for   the  peculiar  shape  which   social  a-nd  economic   life  assumed  in 
the  Near  East.     They  are  many  and  various.     But   the   fact   is   that 
everyv/here  here   you  have   one   outstanding   feature   of  the    social, 
economic   and  political   development,    the   domination   of   the    idea  _^ 
that  God  and  King   are  recognized  and  thought   to   be  m.asters    of  the) 
land.      God  and  Kingl      Of   course,    first  God  and  af terv/ards  ,    as  his 
representative   on  earth,    tlie  king.     He   is   the  master  and  the  ruler, 
and   that   decides  what   form  the   city  vrauld  take   in   the   oriental 
countries.      The  explanation   for   this   predomination  of   God  and  king 
lies   partly   in   the  social  and  economic   conditions;    in   the   necessity 
of  an  organized  group  in  this   alluvial   land  under  distress   of  the 
yearly  inundations  lAiaich  required  the    canalization  and  draining   of 
the   soil;   v;hich  could  not  be   done  by  one  fam.ily   or   one  small  group, 
but   required  organized  labor  and  a  skilful  and   at   the  same   time 
united  direction  of  this   land.      This   fact  explains  pretty  nearly 
the   peculiar  organization  of  Egypt  and  Mesopotamia,   but   itdpes 
not   explain  why  the   same  type   of  religious,    social  and  political 
life   exists   in  Asia  iiinor  as  well,   which  has   not  alluvial  land. 
Llaybe   another   cause  was   the  fact   that   civilization  v/as  brought   into 
the  Near  East   in  general  by   conquering   tribes  v;ho   brought  with   them 
a  higher   civilization  than  the   civilization  7Aiich  they  met  both 
in  Mesopotamia  and  Egj-p*.    and  in  the   rest  of   the   Near  East.      There 
are,    of   course,    theories  v^ich  regard  Egypt  and  Mesopotamia  as 
the  places   of   origin  of  civilization  in  general,    but  with   this 
I    do   not  agree.      The   facts   show  that   civilization  was  brought 
even  into  Mesopot^ffiiaT'^d  probably  into  Egypt  also,    from   some- 
v;here    in   Central  Asia,    and  that  here  also,    as   in   the  rest   of  the 
Near  East,    the  Tirst  attempt   at   civilization  was    the  work   of 
conquering  tribes  who  brought  with  them  tiieir  gods  and  who   had 
military  leaders .      mlitary  life   requires   unity,    and   the   leader 
of  these    tribes  was   the   god_.      In  Egypt  and  Mesopotamia  the 
conquerors    found   conditions   appropriaxe   for  perpetuating    these 
ideas   and  for  making   them  last   for    centuries   and  centuries.      This 
type  was    just   suited  to   the  peculiar   social   and  economic    condi- 
tions  of  Egypt  and  Ilesopotamia. 

Under   such  conditions  what  was    the   city?     Probably   the   con- 
querors  met   in  both  Egypt  and  Babylonia  an  already  existing 
civilization,    probably   even  fortified   cities,    but   tlie   cities   of 
the   conquerors  were   quite   peculia.r   cities.      I   will   shovv  you   som.e 

-22- 


samples  of  these  cities  which  were  excavated  during  the  last  fev/ 
decades.'  The  city  was  the  temple  of  the  gods  and  the  palace  of  the 
king  -  that  v/as  the  only  part  of  the  city  that  v/as  fortified  and 
regarded  as  the  city.   That  is  the  oucstanding  feature  of  the 
oriental  cities,  and  you  find  this  feature  in  Mesopotamia,  Egypt, 
Asia  I'linor,  Phoenicia,  central  Asia,  also  as  far  as  ChJna,  and 
also  transported  by  Asiatics  into  the  European  lands,  especially 
Greece.   And  I  will  shov/  you  some  very  curious  monuments  of 
Sardinia,  the  Nuraghe  of  Sardinia,  which  testify  to  the  same  type 
of  cities.   These  monuments  of  Sardinia  still  exist  in  great 
qur.ntities.   These  fortified  buildings  are  just  dwellings  of  kings 
and  temples  of  gods.   Such  was  the  outstanding  feature  of  the 
oriental  cities.  TSovr,    of  course,  the  city  did  not  consist  only  of 
the  temple  and  the  palace.   Under  tiie  protection  of  the  fortified 
tem-ple  and  palace  a  population  gathered.   First  of  all  there  was   i 
the  retinue  of  soldiers  of  the  king  and  there  were  the  priests  of 
the  temple,  who  built  houses  near  tne  fortifications.   These  were 
sometimes  large  and  beautiful.  Afterwards  comiiierce  and  industry 
attracted  shopkeepers  and  artisans,  who  lived  in  poorer  houses 
around  the  fortified  city.   But  these  places  were  practically 
not  included  in  the  area  of  the  city.   Th e  c i t y. was,. ide n t i c aX  w i ±Ja 
the  god  and  the  king,  the  city  was  the  only  place  where  the   god 
and  the  king  lived  and  ruled  over  the  land,  but  at  the  same  time  it 
was  the  religious  and  political  center  of  larger  or  smaller, 
territories. 

One  of  the  most  important  historical  features  of  the  life 
of  the  ancient  oriental  world  is  the  tendency  to  spread  and  to 
transform  their  small  territorial  states  into  larger  empires. 
Imperialistic  tendencies  were  born  first  in  the  Orient.   The 
history  of  Babylonia  consists  of  attempts  to  unite,  first,^  the 
whole  Babylonia  under  the  sway  of  one  god  and  one  king  and 
afterward  to  make  the  states  and  cities  around  Babylonia  depen- 
dent u-oon  the  leading  state.   The  same  is  true  of  Egypt.   I'ou 
have  fj.rst  r.iany  states  in  3g;rpt,  afterwards  the  tendency  of  one 
state  to  conquer  the  others  and  to  rule  over  the  irrhole  countri)-, 
and  as  early  as  under  the  fourth  dynasty,  the  third  milleniura, 
B.C.,  you  have  im-Terialistlc  tendencies,  attempts  to  co^nquer 
-  the  shores  of  Phoenicia  and  Asia  Minor.   T^hen  in  Asia  Minor  ■■ 
the  Hittite  kingc'om  i^iret  appears,  it  appears  as  just  such  an 
imperialistic  r)orer,  and  \7hen  Crete  by  its  v/onderful  development 
formed  a  strong  united  state.,   the  first  tendency  of  Cete  ws.s 
to  build  UTD  a  imritime  em-oire.  Tow,  what  is  the  consequence  of 
these  features  for  the  history  of  cities?  It  is  this:  The  oriental 
city  was  first  the  iDolitical  center  of  the  whole  country  ana 
finally  of  a  larger"  emoire.  In  the  oriental  monarchies  tiiere  exists 
only  one  city  -  tlie  capital  of  the   State,  ./ai  the  agglomerations 
are  not  recognized  as  cities,  and  that  is  the  origin  of  the  dii^er- 
ence  between  city  and  village.  Citi^_iQ_r  the  oriental  empires  xs  the 
capital  where_the  leading  god  and  king  reside.   For  Babylonia  it 
waV  for  a  long 'time  Babylon;  for  Assyria  it  was  first  Aesur,  aiter- 
wardu  Nineveh,  etc.;  for  Egypt  it  was  first  Mem.phis  and  afterwarus 
Thebes:  besides  this  city  no  other  cities  are  recognised  as  such. 

-23- 


All  other  settlements  are  villages  su"bject  to  the  city  and  having 
hd^rigrTTofTtaking  any  part  in  the  administration  and  in_tlia_ruXs 
ofthe  empire.   The  conquered  cities  v.-hich  have  "been  themselves  \ 
centers  of  independent  states  are  either  destroyed  or  exist  as   ' 
residences  of  vassal  kings.   The  empire  is  ruled  hy  people  who   | 
live  in  the  only  city,  and  this  only  city  contains  in  itself  the, 
state  as  such.   The  king  is  almost  identical  with  the  god,  his 
protector;  the  city  is  identzf ie'd-^rrth  the  god  and  the  king;  and 
"tii€-±cind  is  identified  with  god,  king  and  city.   That  is  the 
evolution  in  the  ancient  orient,  and  that  is  the  outstanding 
feature  of  this  evolution.   Of  course,  the  cities  gror  enormously. 
They  assume  quite  enormous  proportions  and  that  is  only  natural. 
You  understand  what  large  and  gorgeous  cities  ought  to  be  the 
military,  economic  and  political  centers  of  such  vast  empires  as 
Egypt  beginning  Y/ith  the  Eighteenth  dynasty  and  Babylonia  in  the  time 
of  Kamurrabi  and  later.   The  same  "is  valid  for  Assyria,  which 
created  a  conquering  state,  conquering  even  Egypt  and  entirely 
absorbing  Babylonia;  and  for  the  Hittite  Empire  which  dominated  all 
of  Asia  Minor.  You  must  understand  what  it  means  from  the  economic, 
social  and  political  point  of  view.   Thousands  of  people  cai.ie   to 
live  near  the  ruler  of  these  empires.   Enormous  commercial 
operations  were  carried  on.   Splendid  houses  of  the  officials,  of 
the  generals,  and  of  the  priests  were  built.   One  temple  after 
another  was  built  around  the  chief  temple  and  the  chief  palace.  The 
relatives  of  the  king  and  his  family  lived  around  the  palace.  You 
must  not  forget  that  polygamy  v/as  practiced,  so  that  the  family  of 
the  king  counted  scores  of  members  and  sometimes  hundreds.   How 
these  people  had  their  own  houses  and  temple^.  The  kings  v/ere  pious 
and  built  one  temple  after  another.   The  temples  v;ere  not  only 
centers  of  religious  life,  they  were  ^Elie~first  factories.   They 
employed  thousands  of  slaves  and  these  slaves  brought  the  tech-     ■ 
nique  of  ancient  industry  into  such  perfection  that  afterwards  the 
Greek  world  had  only  to  adopt  this  technique  of  the  ancient  order.  1 
Hothing  of  this  kind  can  be  produced  now.   Modern  technique  can 
not  compare  v/ith  it.   The  leading  people  like  Lalicq  of  Paris  and 
Paberger  of  Petrograd  do  not  succeed  in  reproducing  it  because 
there  v/as  a  finer   style  of  technique  produced  v/ithout  machinery. 
Now  as  you  understand,  every  temple  was  a  large  factory,  and  not 
a  factory  specializing  in  one  thing  but  an  enormous  factory  spe- 
cializing in  many  branches  of  industry,  with  market  places  for 
more  than  one  land,  for  all  that  come  into  commercial  relation 
with  the  empire.   And  of  course  there  v/as  created  a  large  merchant 
class.   The  merchan^^'  had  thousands  of  slaves  and  so  had  the 
priests,  and  the  king  had  his  army,  and  the  courts  must  have  been 
like  a  Turkish  court  in  the  lasc  times  of  the  existence  of  the 
Turkish  empire.   If  v;e  talk  of  300  wives  of  a  Sultan  there  is  no 
exaggeration.   If  you  take  the  v;ives  and  the  slaves  v/ho  formed 
the  life  of  a  king  it  makes  thousands  and  thousands.   So  it  is 
not  an  exaggeration  when  Babylon  is  said  to  be  a  city  of  about 
1,000,000  inhabitants. 

Of  course,  in  such  a  city  much  attention  was  paid  by  the  ruler 
to  the  palace  and  temple,  but  they  could  not  leave  v/ithout  con- 
sideration these  enormous  masses  of  men  v/ho  lived  in  thp  mnn-t 

-24- 


unsanit-^ry  conditions.   They  were  obliged  tc  take  steps  to  improve 
the  city  as  such  and  to  form  the  first  foundation  of  a  municipal 
life.   City  planning,  city  regulation  of  the  streets,  some  laws 
about  building,  and  so  on,  vere  certainly  first  elaborated  in  these 
capitals  of  the  ancient  world,  in  these  capitals  of  the  oriental 
monarchies.   Such  were  the  leading  types  of  the  oriental  world  and 
most  of  v/hat  we  can  say  of  the  oriental  world  is  true  of  Jerusalem 
also,  which  v/as  of  the  same  type.   The  temple  was  the  center,  and^ 
when  Jerusalem  had  a  King,  it  was  a  combination  of  temple  and  palace. 
Of  course  there  were  some  modifications.   "Wiat  you  expect  from  me 
are  the  broad  lines  and  you  must  remember  this:   the  type   of      ^~— ~^ 
oriental  city  is  the  political  center  of  a  larger  territorinl  state 
empire,  the  city  capital,   the  city  residence,  the  city  of  a  god 
sind  of  a  king. 


-25- 


Lecture   2   -  February  14,    1922. 
Greece.      Mainland  and  Colonies. 

Let  me   first,    oeiore  beginning  with  the    conditions   in 
the  Greek  v/orld.    sum  up  by  means   of  a  modern  parallel  what   is 
my  idea   about   the   cities   of  the   oriental  world.      There   is    only 
one  parallel  which  I   knovz   -   shovang  tYie   same   relations   of   a 
large  territorial   state   populated  by  peasants,    one   city  which 
is   the   residence    of   the   god  and  of   the    king,    and   if  there   are 
other  cities,    these   cities  depending  on  the  main   ruling  city, 
or,    so  to   speak,    the  administrative   center   for   the   central   govern- 
ment  -  .and  that   is    Russia.      Of   course,    I  do   not   mean  modern  Russia, 
after  Peter  the  Great.      I   do   not  mean  either  Russia  in  its   very 
beginnings.    I    do  not  mean  the    cities   of  Russia  on  the  River 
Dnieper.      These   cities  were    commercial   cities  and  had  nothing  to^ 
do  with   the   later  development   of  Ru.sia.      I  mean  the  Moscow  Russia; 
that  is,    beginning  with   the   13th  century  down  to    the  beginning  of  | 
the  loth  century.     You  have   just  the   same   features  as  before,    an 
enormous   land  united  by  one   dynasty  leading   one  people   -~   just  the 
same   as   the  Babylonian  kingdom,    the  Egyptian  kingdom,   Assyrian 
kingdom,    the  Persian  kingdom..      The  population   lived  in   the  \ 

villages   scattered  all  over   the   country  and  you  have   one   city,! 
Moscow,    the  leading   city,    the  city  v/hi  ch  was   the   residence   of    \ 
church  and   the  Tsar.      If  you   take  Moscow,    ycu  rill   see  what  a 
striking  parallel  it  shows    to  Babylon  and   to    Thebes.     You  have\ 
the  Kremlin,    that  _is_^u6t  the   temple   of   a  supreme  god  and  the    \ 
palace   of_th~e   Tsar ,   and"  .that   is  all.     No    other  building   e^a  sTedi 
bnt   the  Kremlin,    and  around  the  Kremlin  existed  the  enormous 
villages    of  Moscow  of  the  15th,    16th  and  17th   centuries.      The 
city  v;as   the    center   of  political  life,    administrative   organization, 
military   organization;    that  was    tlie  main  cause.      If  there  was  some 
trend  tov/ard   indu-Stry,    it  was   secondary.     But  don't  misunderstand 
me.      Such  v/as    the   situation   only  to    the    second  half  of   the   17th 
century.      Afterwards  Russia  began  to   develop  in   just   the   same  way 
as   other  European  countries.     But  the   explanation  of  my  first 
point   in  my  lecture  before   last,    of  the   antagonismjjf  the    city 
and  country,    lies   in  this    fact   of  the   city  being  th.e_c_enter   of 
dsminatibn  an'd  adi-ainistration*      I   could  perhaps   say  more  alDout 
tirrs— parallel"  -   Just   the  same   type   of  serfdom,    the  same  type   of 
nobility   connected  with   the   Tsar   as  v/itli   the   king  in  Egypt  and 
Babylonia,   etc.     But  I    do  not   like   to   press  modern  parallels,   and| 
I   am  going   on  now   to  my  main   subject,    the   evolution  of   cities 
later   on  both   in  the  Orient  and  in  the  Greek  world. 

The    type   of    city  capital,    the   type   of   city  residence,    was 
not   the    onl;^-   type   of  city   in   the  ancient   Orient.      Along  va  th   these 
cities,    just  on  the  shores   of  the. seas,   we   see  an  important   inter- 
national   comiTierce  developed  between  the   civilized  lands   in  Meso- 
potamia and  tire   civilized  lands   in  Egypt,   betv.-een  both  of  them 
and  the   Hittite  Einpire,    and  more  between  the  Hittite  Empire   and 
the  beginnings    of  a  Greek  world  in  the   Aegean  and  Mycenanean 
borders,   with   the   center   of    commerce   on   the   Island  of   Crete   just 

-26- 


at   that    time,   which  coincides  with  the  beginning   of   the  second 
mixlen.um  B-C      Ycu  notice  the   developraent  of  a   new  type  of   city 
on   the  Phoenician   coast,    I  mean   the   famous    cities    of  Tyre   and 
Sidon,    and  the   others   which  gradually  covered  the    shores    of   the 
Phoenician  coast,   v;hich  is    the  "best  place   for   a  maritime  trade 
between   the   central  Asiatic   land  on   one  hand.    Egypt,   Asia  Minor 
and   the  Greek  world  on   the   other.     Don't   forget    that   land  trans- 
portation,  which  is  easy  now  because   of  the   railroads,   \vas    a 
difficult  and  very   expensive    thing   in  the   ancient  world.      A 
caravan   cost  much  more   than   a  good  ship  and   it  moved  slov/ly,    indeed. 
The  animals,    camels   and  donkeys   move   slov/ly.    cost  much   to    feed,    are 
exposed  to    constant  dangers   and  the  difficulties   of  the   deserts.^ 
land  transportation  was   an  expensive  thing,    and   it  was   long  before 
jfoads'were^buTlt   in   the   ancient  v/orld.      Not  before   the  Hellenistic 
IJ^riod  and  the 'period  of   the  Roman  Empire  were  they  built.      The 
oriental   time  knew  only  natural  paths.      So   you  see,    if  there  v:as 
any  possibility  of  avoiding   the   carrying   of  goods   from  central  Asia 
through  a  long  way  to   the  harbors   of  Asia  Minor,    if  there  v/as  a  way 
to    shorten  the   trip,    that  was  a  boon,    and  that  was  the   reason  why 
during   this   time   some  villages  which  were  started  by  fishermen  v;ho 
used   to   get   tlieir   living  from  fishing   in  the  sea,    and  who    invented 
a  method  of    dyeing  stuffs  by  means   of  a  purple  which  was  made   from 
some  little  maritime  beasts    caught  on  the  shores    of  Tyre  and   Sidon, 
became  large   trading   cities.      I  will  show  you  pla,ns   of  some   of 
these  cities   and  you  will  see   that  the   type   is  always   the   same. 
It   is  most  often  not  a  part   of  a   shore,   but  an  island  near  the 
shore  and  barring   the  v:ay  into  a  good  harbor.     Here  the  population 
v;as    safe.     But  you  understand  that   this  population  was    Just  a   city, 
a  group   of  men  entirely  devoted   to   commerce  who   migrated   from  the 
shore    to    the   island  just    to    take  up,    or  to   go    on  with,    their 
fishing  and  dyeing   of  stuffs.     But  at   the   same   time   they  became 
merchants.      That    does   not  mean   that   they  produced  things   themselves, 
but    that   they  were   intermediaries  between  the  Mesopotamians   and   Asia 
Minor   and  Greece.     But   they  had  brilliant  profits   out  of   it,    because 
the    shore   of  Phoenicia  is   full   of  v/onderful    forests,    cedar   forests 
are  still  growing  there,   wonderful  pine   trees    just  as   if   created 
for   building  ships.      They  had,    of   course,   by  means    of   arms,   by 
organizing  themselves   into  well  armed  groups,    the  ability    to    control 
these  forests   and  to  have  as  much  liimber  and  timber  as  they   liked 
for  building. 

This   is  another   type,    not  a  city  which  was   a   center   of    a  \ 

large  agricultural   territory,    net  a  city  which  ruled  in  the   person    | 
of  a  god  and  king,    it  was   just  a   community  of  raerchantS;    free  men, 
who   lived  on  their   enterprises;    and  that   is   the   first   example   of 
a~~t:Tue  city   state,    --  that   is,    a  city  which  was   at  the  same   tir.ie 
the   state.      Now,     the   oriental   state  was  a    territorial   state,    and 
the  city  was   only  an  arbitrarily  chosen  center   of  this    territorial 
state.     Here  the    city  formed  the    state.      It  may   be   that  the    city 
was   ruled  by  an  elected  king;    it  rnsiy  be  that   it  was   ruled  by  a 
senate   of  the   oldest  and  most   experiencea    citizens;    it  may  be   that 

-27- 


the    city   created  a  kind   of   democracy.      That  mal:e&   no   difference. 
The  moot   important   tiling  is   that   it   is   a   city  which  is  at   the  same 
time  a   state.      This    city  may  acquire   territory   or  land,    it  may 
develop   into   a  kind  of   territorial   state,    but    the   nucleus  v/as  a 
group   of  merchants,    industrials,    sailors,  and  fishermen  too    (hecause 
they  carried  on  fishing  on  a  large   commercial   scale).      Industry 
and  trade  developed  also    in  the   territorial  state,   hut  you  see 
the   enormous   difference  het,v;een  the    type   of    city   created  by  these 
merchant  groups   and  the    type   of   city  which  v;as   created  by  the 
peasant  state. 

And  nov/  I   pass   on  to   the    conditions    in  Greece.      Just  v/hen, 
in  Asia,    cities  developed  on  the   shores    of  Asia  Minor,    of   Phos- 
nicia,    Syria  and  Palestine,    at   the   same   time  an  analogous  type   of 
cities   developed   on  the   Greek   islands.      I  should  not   say  of 
strictly  the    same  kind,    but    cities    that  were  a    combination  of 
the    oriential   city   and  this  merchant  city  were  developing^every- 
where   and  especially   in   Crete.      Look  at  the   situation   of  Crete. 
It   is   just  an   obstacle,   a  kind   of  harrier  betv/een   tlie   eastern  seas 
ajid  the   seas   of  Greece.      It  was  as    if    it  v;ere  created  for   a 
maritime   hegemony,   maritime  rule,    and   it    is   no  wonder  that  her 
large  commercial    cities  developed  and   that   these    cities  had  the 
maritime   rule   all    over   tlie  Aegean  Sea.      They   sent   out   colonies 
just  as    did   the  Phoenicians.      As   the   Phoenicians  had  wide    com-ner- 
cial    relations,    they  wanted   to  have,    they  needed  to   have,    some 
merchant  stations   outside   of  Phoenicia  in  places  where  they  were 
carrying   on  a  profitable   trade  v;i  th  barbarous   nations.      They 
very   soon  directed  their  attentioVi   to    the  West  and  here  was  ^famous 
Cartilage,   which  v;as  first  a   commercial   station  of   Tyre   in  Africa 
just  for    carrj'-ing   out    trade  between  Phoenicia  and  the   mainland  of 
Africa  and  became   afterwards   the   center   of    trade  with   Italy,    Sicily, 
Gaul,    Spain,   and  as  far  as  Britain  where   they  v;ere  going  to   get 
tin,    a  verj'  rare  product   indeed.      And  from  Spain   they  got    silver 
and  from  Italy   they  got    iron  and  copper   —    all  things   very  much 
needed  by  the    oriental  world  and  especially  tin  for  making  bronze, 
as  bronze  was   the  main  material   for  m.alcing  weapons  before    iron   came 
into  general   use.      The  Cretans   did  just   the    same.      They   sent  out, 
to   the  East   shores    of   Italy,    to    Sicily,    to    the  Greek   islands,   and 
to   the  mainland   of  Greece,    to   Asia  Minor,    trading  colonies, 
factories   for    trade,    and   in  this  way  they  populated  for  example 
the  best  places-  of   Greece.      Hence  arose  the   centers   of  Mycenae, 
Tiryns   and  others  which  were   excavated  later  in   the   Peloponnesus. 
Such   settlements  were  also   in  Attica  where   later   Athens,    the  main 
city   state  of  Greece  developed  and    in  Boetia.      Don't  forget   "that 
the   acropolis   of   Athens  v/as    first   the  place   of   the   palace   of   the 
Aegean  king  who   ruled  over  all  the    country  and  carried  on  an 
important   trade  and   cora-nerce  with  the  wild  tribes    of  Greece.    Such 
Vifere    the  beginnings    of   city    life   in  Greece.      ITo't    pure   oriental 
cities   and  not  pure   commercial   cities;    combinations    of  both.  But 
gradually,    in  Greece,    quite   a  new  ty^^e   of  city  developed.      The 
origins    of  this   type  were  many  and  various.      Some   places  were 
centers    of   the  Cretan  and  Aegean  domination  on  the  Peloponnesus   and 

-28- 


in   central  Greece  and   in  northern  Greece.      Some   of  the   inland 
places  had  refuges   and  fortified  villages   of   the  vjell-kno\A/n  pre- 
historic  types.      Out  of  all   these  beginnings  graaually  developed 
quite  a  new  type   of  city,   vhich  dominated  after\;ards  for    centuries 
and  -which  is   still  influencing   our  life  and  which  still  goes 
along  vdth   the  idea  of  a   territorial  state  and  its    capital.      I 
nean  the  Greek   ci  tj^   state. 

Y/hen  did  it   develop,    we  don't   know.      It    is    covered  by   the 
early  "beginning  of  Greek  history,   "but  we  may   guess   about   the 
origins.      Greece  at  the  beginning   of  the  first  millenium  and  at 
the    end  of   the    second  millenium  B -C  ,    v/as   gradually  invaded  by 
tribes   coming   from  the  Danube,    vtiich  passed  through  the  northern 
part   of   the  Balkan  Penninsula  and  poured  into    central  and   southern 
Greece.      They  settled  down  here,    they   fought   each  other,    they  went 
up  and  down,    and   finally   they  found  their  last  settlement  where 
they  remained  for  centuries    and  centuries.      These  nevv  peoples 
certainly  formed  the  city  state.     Y/hat   is    the   city  state?     ¥i/hat 
is  the   difference  between  the   ci  tj^  state  and  the   city   of   the 
oriental  countries?     Wiat   is    the   difference   between  Athens   and 
Babylon,    between  Athens   and  Thebes?     As   regards   modern  parallels 
there   is   almost  no  parallel   to   the  development   of    the  Greek  cities. 
It   is  easy  to   find  parallels    to   the   purely  merchant   cities    of   tiie 
Phoenician  and  Aegean  type.     Everybody  reiiiembers   the  Hansa   cities, 
like  Hamburg;    of  the   same   tj'-pe  were   the  Baltic   cities   like  Riga- 
More   or   less   of   the  same   type  were  Venice,   Genoa,    and  Pisa.      So 
it   is  easy  to   find  parallels    of  merchant  groups    forming   cities 
and  living   in  the   city,    just  exploiting   tlieir   domination   of    one  , 
large  part   of  the   sea.     But   it    is    not   so  easy   to  find  a  parallels 
to  Greek   city  states.      The  only  parallel  of  which  I  knov/  rar.y  be     ) 
the   cities   of   the   Renaissance    in  Italy,    some   of   them,    not   the 
maritime   ones   -   especially  cities   like  Florence.      Tiiat   is  the 
leading  part   in  a  Greek  city  state?      It   is   just   this:      Combination] 
of   city  and  state.      The  city   is  no  more  a  place,    no  more  a   center 
oT  administration,    the  house   of  god  and  of  the  king.      The   city  is 
now  more  an  ideal   than  a  place.      The  city  means   all   the   citizens 
who    form  the  city.      The  body  of   the   citizens   is   the   first  thing, 
the  beginning;    and  afterv/ards  they  build  a   center  vath  the  houses^ 
for    the  gods  and  places  for  themselves,    to   organize   the  self-rule 
of  this   group   of  men.      So  the  Greek    city    is  a  ^ody   of  men.      For 
"example >    Attica,    formed  one   city^'' and  the   city  center  of   Attica 
was   Athens;    and   if   you  go    over  Greece  you  will   find  certainly 
hundreds    of  such   independent  states  vd  tla    cities  as    their   center. 
Just   imagine   on  such  a   small  bit   of   land  hundreds    of   cities  and 
just   imagine  moreover   that   each   island  has  a   special   city  and  some 
islands   like  Rhodes   had  originally  many  cities,    -    tiiree,    four, 
five   cities.      Such  a   sms.ll  bit   of  landl      And  now   imagine   this 
enormous  Babylonian  Empire  v/ith   one    ci  1^   and  the   enormous   land  of 
Egypt  with  one   city,    and  here  hundreds    of  bodies    of    citizens   living 
a  free   life,   having  a  share    in   the  self-rule,    and  being  an 
independent  and  self  sufficient  political   and   economic  body.   Now 
that   is    the   leading  point.     How  it   came  about   that  such  cities 

-29- 


we^e  f'^rmed,  I  do  not  know,  and  you  will  not  find  any  ans^ver  to 
tnis  puzzle  in  ancient  history.   You  cannot  help  yourself  T'fith 
modern  parallels  "because  the  Italian  cities  of  the  later  Middle 
Ages  and  the  Renaissance  were  grafted  on  the  Roman  cities.   They 
had  the  traditions  of  these  ancient  cities  but  here  you  have  no 
traditions,  and  the  city  grows  up  like  a  wild  flower,  and  that 
neans  that  for  the  firs F  tine  tlie  idea  of  citizenship,  of  poli- 
tical freedom,  o'f  self-control  and  self-government,  of  self- 
rule,  and  of  self-sufficiency  was  born.   The  first  citizens  in 
the  world  were  Greek  citizens.   Nov/  you  nay  say  that  almost  the 
sane  thing  existed  in  the  Phoenician  cities.   It  may  be;  we  don't 
know.  But  the  main  Phoenician  cities  represented  alwsiys  a  group 
of  men  vd  th  common  economic  interests  and  mostly  commercial^ 
interests.  Here  you  have  different  types  of  people;  some  live 
near  the  sea,  fishermen;  some  in  the  forests,  men  who  cut  lumber; 
some  in  the  plains;  people  who  till  the  soil;  some  in  the  mountains, 
people  who  live  by  pasturing  herds;  but  all  of  them  united  and 
created  the  cities.   These  cities  v/ere  of  different  types. 

I  cannot  describe  all  the  types  of  Greek  cities  which 
gradually  developed  on  the  mainland  and  on  the  islands.   It  will 
suffice  for  my  purpose  to  describe  the  most  characteristic  ones 
only.   The  type  which  reminds  us  mostly  of  the  Aegean  and 
Plioenician  cities  was  the  type  of  a  purely  commercial  city  state. 
Such  were  Aegina  on  a  barren  island  near  the  coast  of  Attica  and 
Corinth  on  the  Isthmus  between  central  Greece  and  the  Peloponnesus. 
Both  had  almost  no  cultivable  soil,  and  in  both  the  population 
concentrated  in  the  cities  lived  almost  entirely  on  its 
commercial  activity.  Aegina  was  the  intermediary  between  Asia 
Minor  and  the  mainland  of  Greece;  Corinth  v/as  on  the  path  of 
traffic  with  Italy,  which  preferred  to  the  long  and  dangerous 
rounding  of  the  Pelopennesus  the  safer  and  shorter  way  through 
the  Gulf  of  Corinth  with  the  unloading  of  the  cargo  on  the  Isthmus. 
Another  type  was  the  type  of  a  purely  agricultural  city  like  Thebes 
and  other  cities  in  the  plan  of  Boetia.  "We  have  two  variations  of 
the  type;  tlie  city  with  a  free  population  of  small  landov/ners.  and 
the  city  witli  a  population  of  landov/ners  on  one  hand  and  serfs, 
who  tilled  the  soil  for  landov;ners,  on  the  other.   Such  were  many 
cities  in  Thessaly,  the  cities  of  the  Island  of  Crete,  and  the 
most  important  of  them,  the  city  of  Sparta  in  the  Peloponnesus. 
The  social  structure  of  the  city  of  Sparta  vms  the  most  peculiar  of 
them,  dictated  as  it  was  by  the  main  idea  of  self-defense  and  self- 
maintenance  by  means  of  a  strong  military  organization  of  the  rulir: 
minority.  But  taking  into  consideration  this  peculiarity,  we  must 
say  that  Sparta  was  just  a  typical  city  state  with  a  body  of  self- 
governing  citizens  in  their  rights  and  duties. 

The  most  complicated  type  of  a  Greek  city  state  was  that 
of  Athens,  which  formed  the  political  center  of  a  comparatively 
large  territory,  not  exclusively  agi^cultural,  with  large  pasture 
lands,  good  forests,  some  mines,  and  excellent  harbors.  ISfaturally 
conditions  of  social  and  economic  life  in  Athens  vi/ere  more  compli- 
cated than  in  the  other  cities,  and  the  development  of  the  city 
state  took  somewhat  different  forms. 

-30- 


In   spite   of   these   different   social  and  economic   conditions, 
deternuned  partly  "by  the    former  history  of   those   parts   of  Greece 
where  they  had  developed  the   main  lines   of  the   evolution  of  the 
city,    the  modes   of   transformation  of  an  Aegean  royal  capital    or 
of  a  simple  refuge   of  half -wild   tribes    into   a  real   city  state 
remained  almost   identical.      Almost  all   the  Greek   cities  v;ere 
created  not  by  conquest   or   by  violence  but  by  a  kind  of  under- 
standing between  the  different  parts   of    the  population,   both 
conquerors    and    conquered.      This  process   is    comparatively  v/ell- 
known  to    us   in  the  case  of  Athens. 

Thucydides,    the   great  historian  of  Athens,    who  knew  about 
history  as  much  as  v/e  know,    who  had  a   sharp   eye    for  social  and 
economic   conditions,    speaks   of  Athens  as  created  by  the  act   of 
synoecism.      Synoecism  in  Greek  means   "settling   together"   and  this 
means  that  many  populated   centers  were   united  and   formed  one  main 
center  of   political  and  economic   life,    one   city:-  many  scattered 
houses,   many  villages,   many  refuges,   many   fortified  villages,   many 
tribes  and  clans,    etc.,    come   to   an  understanding  and  form  one 
political  body,    one  polls    (city)    and  one  politeia  ( city-state) . 

Such  is   the  history  of   the   origins   of   the  Greek    city,    and 
of  v4iat  enormous   importance   in  history'.      First  of   all  Ll  have   not 
seen  any   social,    economic,    and  political   form  which  had  so    enormous 
and  rapid  success    in  historical  evolution.      One    after  another  nevr 
cities   covered,    first,    the  7;hole  main  body  of  Greece  and  then  / 

spread  as   far  as  Macedonia  and  Epirus^   At   tlie   same  time  all   the 
larger  and  sma-ller   islands  v/ere    transformed  into    city   states;    no 
one    island  remained  v/ithout  a  city.     But  the   most    important    thing 
is   that   the  city   is    like  a  bee  hive.      These  men  v;lio  formed   cities 
v.'ere   continually  swarming  about.      They  sent   one   group  after  another 
to  create  new  bodies,    new  bee  hives,    new  cities.      That   is  what   is 
meant  by  Greek  colonization,    one   of   the  most  striking   features   of 
Greek  history.      It  can  but   superficially  be  compared  with    the 
colonization  of  Ainerica.      The   first  ground  for  colonization  v/as 
the   shores   of  Asia  Minor  as  early  as   the   end  of   the  second  and 
beginning  of   the  first  millenium,  B.C.,    a  troubled  time   of 
migrations  and  disintegrations   for  the   oriental  v/orld,   which  made 
the   task  of  the  Greek  colonists  an   easy  one.      Colonies  were  creates 
by  bodies   of  men  well  organized,    all  knomng  what  they  v/anted  and 
what   they  were  striving  for.      They    got  together,    elected  a   chief 
v.'ho  was   the   founder   of   the  colony,    and  they  v/ent   out  looking  for 
some  place  where   they  could   live.      Certainly   it   was   dictated  by 
the    social  and  economic   conditions   of  Greece.      You  know  that 
Greece   is   one   of   the  most  beggar  lands.      It   is    mere  poverty  v/hich 
still   reigns   in  Greece.     Greece   is    not  rich   in  pastures   or  fertile 
soils.      It  has   almost  nothing  except  air,   much  air,   and  plenty   of 
sun.      And  there  are  almost  no   fish   in  Greece.      It    is   poverty  which 
reigns    in  Greece,    and  that  was   the   leading  motive   for   emigration 
and  for  colonization.     Asia  Minor   is    one   of  the   richest  lands   in 
the  world.      It  has  v/onderful   pastures,    good  mines    of   copper  and 
gold,    and  wonderful   opportunities   for  planting   olive   trees, 
vineyards,   and  for  making  very  good  gardens.      It    is   also    possible 

-■^1  - 


to  pla  it  all  of   this    in  Greece,   but   it   is  lauch  better  to    do    it   m 
Asia  Minor  where   ycu  can  at  the  same  time  have   rich  fields  which 
yield  your  daily  bread.      So    "che    colonies  -.'ent   out  T:ith  different 
purposes    -  people  who   used  to   live   on  fj sh   locked  for    good  places 
to    organize   fishing   on  a  large  scale  and  from  where  they  could  send 
lots    of   salt   fisn  to   the  mother  country.      Other  people  went   out 
to   look   for  places  where   it   was  easy   to   find  rich   fields   not 
very  well  protected  by  the   natives,    and  to  subject  the  natives. 
Some  went  with  tlie   purpose   of  getting  their  living  and  at   the_ 
same  tine  having  good  cormnercial  opportunity  in  some  place_  which 
was  well  situated.     But    the  most   inportant  thing   is    that  the 
swarms   of  Greeks    coming  out   of   the    cities  of  the  mainland  started 
a   ci+y   everywhere   they  v/entj   a  city  state   of  the   same  type  as   in 
Greece.      They  never  were   submerged  by   the   natives.      I   do   not 
know  of    one   example.      They  were  destroyed,    but   never   submerged 
even  in  the   Orient,   which  was  a  very  civilized  land.      They   never 
yielded  to   a  foreign  civilization.      They  thought   that   ti-ieir 
civilization  was   the   best   one,    and  they    imposed   tlieir   civilization 
and  their   political   life,    and  that  means  the   city  state-      Such 
was   the  type   of  the  Greek  colony. 

One   of   the   earlies-c   colonies   founded  was  Miletus.      The 
Greeks   never  went  far  away  from  the   city.      They   always   populated 
the  seashore,    never  went   to   the  mainland.      They  were   afraid  of 
being  separated  from  the  rr.other  country.      The  relations  \;ith   the 
mother    country  were  never  broken.      They  kept  the   relations 
jealously  and  they  never   forgot  viiich    city   in  Greece  sent   them 
out.      So,    for  example,    S^a-acuse   never  forgot    that   it  was    of 
Dorian  origin.     Miletus   never  forgot   that  it  was   an  Ionian   city. 
Miletus    alone  sent   out   eighty  colonies.      These   colonies   never 
forgot   that   their  mother  was  Miletus. 

Here  you  have  Greece;   here  Asia  Minor. ^     First   of  all   the 
important  sites,    harbors,    valleys   of    rivers    in  Asia  Minor  were 
populated  by  Greeks  and  consisted   of  Greek  ci 'cy  states.      Prom 
here  and  from  Greece  a   colonization  went  through   the   stra.its 
(the  Dardanelles   and  the  Bosphorus )    and  populated  the   shores    of 
the   straits   and  those   of  t}ie' Sea  of  Marmora  by   scores    of   colonies, 
one   of  which  still   is   the    capital    of  the   oriental  world,    Eyzn.ntxu:  , 
the   old  Greek   colony,    is   now  Constantinople,    the   center   of   Turkey 
and  for  a   long   time  the  center   of  the    oriental  world.      They   did  n-.  t 
stop  at   the  Bosphorus,    but  went   out   on  the    inhospitable  Black  Sea, 
on  the   southern  shores    of  the  Black  Sea,    founding   one   colony  alter 
another   and  of  these   Sinor>e,  Srsgli    (Herakleia),    Samsun   (Amisusi 
and  Trebizond   are    still    important-      And   it    is    interesting   that   no 
one   of   these  Greek   cities   perished  dvring  the   Turkish  moyement. 
They  went  as   far   as   the   Caucasus  and   created  two   large    cities^, 
Diosiuriaoand  Phasis,    and,    not  saxisfied,    they  populated  all   the 
western  aad  northern  shores    of   the  Tlacii   Sea  as   far  as    the  mouths 
of  the  Danube,   Bug,   Dniener  and  Don,    and  the   Crimea.     But   they 


-^Prom  this   point   on  Professor  Rostcvtzeff  made   constant   references 
to   the  map . 

-22- 


went  not   only  to    the  East;    they  v/ent  also   to   the  West.      They 
covered  the   shores    of  southern  Italy  with  colonies  and    Sicily, 
and  went  as   far  as  Gaul  and  created  there   tirie  flourishing  city   of 
Marseilles,    and  in  Spain  they  created  some  cities.     Here   they  -were 
stopped  by  Carthage,    the  mighty  rival  of  the  Greek   expansion,    and 
that   is  why  they  never  populated  Sardinia  and  Corsica.      Spain  also 
remained  almost   entirely  in   the   hands    of   the  Phoenicians.      That 
is   the   type   of    the    city  state  which  introduced  into    the   life    of 
humankind  so  many  nev/  ideas,    our  leading   ideas   of  democracy  and 
political   tliought,    which  r;ere  never  created  by  tYie  oriental  people 
who   could  not  understand   them-      These  cities  were   disseminated 
all  over  western  and  eastern  Europe. 

That   is   not   the   end  of   the  history   of  the  Greek   cities. 
Next  time   I  will   finish   the  story  before   I   begin   to    talk  about 
the  Hellenistic  period. 


-33- 


Lectare  3-  Feoruary  16,  1'j22. 
Conclusion  of  Lecture  on  Greek  Cities. 

I  have  descrilDed  to  you  the  spread  of  the  type  of   Greek 
city  state  all  over  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  3ea.   You 
remember  that  Greece  v;as  the  land  of  the  city  states.  Here  the 
mainland  as  well  as  the  shores  were  occupied  "by  scores  and  hun- 
dreds of  city  states.   Afterward  almost  all  the  shores  of  Asia 
Minor,  tliat  is,  the  western  part  of  Asia  Minor,  were  covered  with 
Greek  city  states.   The  shores  of  tlie  Elack  Sea,  the  southern 
part  of  Italy,  and  almost  the  \^iole  of  Sicily,  v/ere  also  places 
where  city  states  developed  one  after  another.   The  development 
of  the  Greek  city  states  was  checked  by  Phoenicians  only.   So 
the  Greeks  did  not  cone  dovm   as  far  as  Phoenicia  where  tlie  place 
was  already  taken  by  Phoenician  city  states,  and  Carthage,  the 
Phoenician  colony,  prevented  the  city  states  of  Greece  from 
spreading  tlirough  tlie  coasts  of  Africa  over  to  Spain  and  up  to 
the  shores  of  the  northern  seas. 

Now,  of  course,  the  Greek  city  states  had  not  all  the 
same  historical  development.   Some  of  tlian  developed  in  one  way 
from  the  economic  and  social  point  of  view,  some  of  them  developed 
in  a  different  way.   I  v;ill  give  you  briefly  the  most  important 
types  of  the  Greek  city  states,  not  from  the  political  point  of 
view,  because  from  that  point  of  viev/  they  were  all  alike,  but 
from  the  economic  and  social  point  of  rievj,   and  from  the  point  of 
view  which  interests  us  all,  that  is  the  point  of  viev;  of  the  city 
as  such. 

From  the  social  and  economic  point  of  view,  and  the  point  of 
view  of  the  city  development,  you  may  divide  the  Greek  city  states 
into  three  large  classes.  One   class  was  the  coimnercial,  the  trade 
cities,  the  center  of  commerce  and  industry.   I  have  already  na."nec 
to  you  tv/o  of  these  cities  and  explained  to  you  the  re?son  for 
their  development.   They  were  Corinth  in  the  Istl-unus  of  Corinth 
between  the  Peloponnesus  and  Greece  and  the  island  of  Aegina.  The 
latter  is  perhaps  .the  most  striking  example  of  a  coranercial  city. 
It  was  a  small  island,  very  poor  indeed,  with  untillable  soil  and 
only  some  woods  and  rocks.   And  still  it  \7as  one  of  the  most 
flourishing  cities  in  the  Greek  world  in  the  7th  and  6th  centuries, 
B.C.,  as  is  showh  by  the  abundant  coinage  which  became  tiie  leading 
coinage  in  Greece  of  this  time.   The  most  important  thing  is  that 
it  was  due  entirely  to  an  enormous  development  of  commerce  and 
industry.   As  a  place  of  exchange  where  goods  v/ere  exchanged  between 
the  different  city  states  of  Greece  and  between  Greece  and  Asia 
Minor,  Aegina  grew  rich  and  important.   Such  is  one  type  -  pure 
merchant  city,  pure  industrial  city. 

The  second  class  is  made  up  of  uhe  pure  agricultu.ral  cities, 
the  leading  city  having  a  military  and  agricultural  organization, 
that  is  Sparta.   Another  city  or  a  conglomeration  of  cities  of  the 
same  type^lms^si'tuated  in  Thessaly,  in  the  large  land  of  Thessaly, 

-34- 


v/hich  was  very  rich,  indeed.   Thessaly  was,  again,  a  land  of 
asriculture,  v/here  the  cities  v/ere  tie  centers  of   purely  agricultur- 
al land,  and  there,  as  in  Bparta,  v;e  find  a  body  of  landowners  and 
a  body  of  serfs  working  on  the  soil.   The  social  and  economic 
organization  of  Thessaly  was  not  quite  the  same  as  in  Sparta  where 
you  had  as  the  ruling  body  a  military  organization  or  citizenship. 
In  Thessaly  you  had  a  pure  aristocracy  of  landowners  v:ho  lived  in 
the  cities  and  ruled  over  the  serf  population.   Hov/ever,  the  main 
point  is  that  there  are  two  examples  of  pure  agricultural  cities. 

ITov;  the  third  type  is  a  mixed  city,  of  a  mixed  type,  not 
of  a  pure  t;irpe.   it  is  a  combination  of  a  city  as  a  center  of 
an  agricultural  district  and  of  a  city  as  a  large  corainercial  and 
industrial  place.   Such  cities  (I  will  show  you  some  slides)  are 
represented  best  in  Greece  by  Athens,  and  in  the  colonies  by 
the  tv;o  leading  colonies,  -  first  in  tiie  East,  Miletus,  and  in  the 
¥/est,  Syracvise.   Here  you  have  first  of  all  a  comparatively  large 
agricultural  district  populated  by  peasants,  the  city  being  formed 
partly  by  citizens  through  an  understanding,  and  partly  by  colo- 
nization.  Syracuse  v.as  a  Dorian  colony;  Miletus,  a  colony  of 
Attica.   The  main  point  is  that  in  all  three  cases  you  have  the 
same  type  of  a  large  agricultural  district  populated  by  peasants 
and  a  leading  and  ruling  city  as  the  representative  and  as  the 
center  of  this  large  body  of  citizens.  But  there  were  differences 
between  the  colonial  cities  and  Athens.   In  Athens  you  had  a  body 
of  citisens  who  owned  the  land  of  the  territory.   It  is  a  large 
body  of  city  population  on  one  hand  with  the  occupations  of  a 
city,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  of  peasant  landholders  spread  all 
over  the  country.   Of  course  they  had  a  fev/  slaves.  But  the  main 
point  is  that  it  is  a  state,  organized  on  democratic  lines  from 
a  political  and  economic  point  of  view.   The  raadn  body  of  popu- 
lation is  made  up  of  free  citizens  who  are,  a.t  the  same  time, 
landov;ners.   How  in  thTe  "c'olonies  you  see  a  different  organization. 
rrTs  ~a  body  of  Greeks  coming  to  a  land  already  populated  and 
already  flourishing,  v/ho  first  built  a  city  near  the  coast  on  an 
island,  aften^/ard  moved  to  the  i.iainland,  conciu-ered  a  large  tract 
of  land  with  a  population,  and  formed  the  city  aristocracies 
ruling  over  a  large  body  of  serfs  who  tilled  the  soil  for  them.. 
In  Syracuse  it  was  an  aristocracy  of  landcvners .   It  seems  to  be 
the  s  ame  type  as  in- Sparta  and  as  in  Tliessaly,  but  it  is  not.   The 
agriculture  and  the  cultivation  of  land  were  only  the  starting 
point.   The  next  point  was  just  the  same  development  as  the 
democratic  city  of  Athens,  a  larg-  development  of  commerce,  in- 
dustry and  related  occupations.   It  is  explained  in  Miletus  because 
that  was  the  interiaediary  between  Greece  and  the  Orient.   Miletus 
was  the  outlet  for  the  civilized  land  of  Asia  Minor.   ITow  here, 
of  course,  some  industries  had  a  very  high  technique.  I  spoice  of 
the  technique  of  the  oriental  vorld.   This  technique  was  taken  over, 
improved,  and  modernized  on  Greek  lines,  by  means  of  a  very  larg,e 
body  of  slaves  organized  on  fac-U)ry  "lines.   And  so  you  see  the 
Orient  came  into  Greece,  and  the  oriental  skilfulness  was  usedby  the 

-55- 


Greeks  for  Greeks  acad  for  intarrational    coramerco.  As    such  a   center   of 
commerce  and  of   industry  Miletus   developed  tnto    a  large,    well 
populated   city,    populated  of  course  by   citizens   only  and  "by  slaves. 
The   serfs  v/ho  vjorked  the   land  "becaine   quite  unimportant   for   the 
further  development,    and  it    is   ouite   possible   that  serfdom  T;as 
soon  transformed   into  minor   forms   of   citizenship.      In  Syracuse 
there  was  almost  the   same  development.      Syracuse    is  still  a  large 
center   of   commerce   in  Sicily,    and  ->-vas  much  more    important   in   the 
ancient   times  because   it  vas    the  main  point  where  the    commerce 
coming  from  Italy  and  the  '7/est  met  the    commerce    from  the   Orient. 

Such  were  the   large   commercial,    industrial,    and  at   the   same 
time  agricultural   cities.      Of  these   cities   the  destinies    of  Athens 
v;ere   the  most   important  because   of   political   evolution.      Athens 
gradually,    after'the  Persian  Wars,    became  a  center   of  a  political 
organization -ivhich  took  in  almost  all  the   cities    of  Asia  I;y.nor, 
all   the    cities   of   the    islands  and  i^iany   cities   on  the  coast   of  the 
mainland  of  Greece.   It  was    a   federation  of   some  hundred   cities,    a 
large  state,    v;here  Athens,   more  and  more,    got  the   leading  part 
both  in  politics  ahd  in  economics.     By  means    of  a  policy  v/hich 
was   carried  out  by  Athens,    Athens   soon  became   the_ leading  harbor 
and  the   leading   commercial   center   of  this   large   district    of^ 
industrial,    comiT-erci'l   and  agricultural   cities.      It   lasted   for 
about   one  century,   but   it  \"as   enough  to   make   out   of  Athens    the 
largest  and  most  beautiful    city  in  the  Greek  world.      And   now  it 
is  very   interesting   to   see  how  under   these   circumstances   Athens, 
just  like  Miletus  and  Syracuse,    developed  as  a    city.      First   of 
all  Athens  v;as  not  situated  near   the  sea.      It  had  tv;o  wonderful 
harbors,   Piraeus   and  Phaleron,    some  miles   from  Athens.      Athens 
should,    of  course,    in  the   times   of  its  maritime   supremacy  have 
spread   from  its  place   on   the   inland  to    the  shore;   but   it  did  not. 
It  built  a  large  modern  harbor  on  the  lines    of  elaborate   scientific 
plajis,    just   on  the  harbor   or  near   the   harbor   of  ir-iraeus.    ^That 
was   quite  a  modern  city,   v;hich  had  not  happened  before-      The 
cities  before  and  the   colonies   grev/  up  as  mushrooms,    one  mushroom 
and  afterwards    otiaers   around  it,    and  so   on  and   so   on.      The    center 
was   the   political   center,    the  acropolis,    temples,    theatre   for 
shov.'s  and  popular  assemblies,   \7ith  public  buildings,    and   no   one 
paid  attention   to  how  the   rest   of  the   city  Tvas   developed.      And  so 
grev;  up  all   the   colonies  and  all   the    cities    on   the  mainland,    as, 
for   example,   many   cities    in  Europe   grev/  later.      Many   cities,    for 
example,    in  Italy  grev;  up   in   the  same  v;ay  and  that   is   the    reason 
v/hy  the  streets  are   narrov;,    the   conditions   unsanitary,    the  houses 
situated   in  different   directions,    etc,    etc.,    and  everything   is 
chaotic.     But   in  the    fifth   centuxy  science  and   especially  mathe- 
matics,   and  in  connection  with  mathematics  measuring  of  land  on 
the  basis   of   geometry,   v;ere   already  developed  to   such  an  extent 
that  v.'hen  the  harbor   of  Athens  was  built,    it  v/as   an  entirely  new 
city  for   the  purpose   of  serving  the   empire   of  Athens.      The  lines 
were   dictated  by  an  architect.      The  city  was  planned   on  geometric 
principles,    the   streets  were  broad  and  straight,    they  crossed  at n.ght 

-36- 


angles,  pu"blic  places  \7ere  planned  at  the  beginning.   The  harbor, 
from  the  "beginning,  v;as  "built  as  an  artificial  har"bor  with  quays 
and  docks  and  everything  for  ship-"buildLng,  etc., etc.   Large 
storehouses  were  built  at  once,  presenting  just  the  appearance  of 
a  great  modern  harbor,  as  for  example.  New  York,  vd.thout  of  cou^rse 
our  improvements.   That  was  a  new  device  in  the  history  of  a  city. 

At  the  same  time  what  v;as  important  in  the  development  of 
the  city  of  Athens  itself  is  that  the  city  was  not  the  residence 
of  the  king  and  clergy,  but  existed  for  the  citizens,  not  for 
somebody  else.   And  so  the  body  of  citizens  tried  to  regulate-    \ 
life  in  the  city,  to  make  it  easier,  to  make  it  more  comfortable 
and  better  for  everybody  who  lived  in  the  city.   That  was  the 
beginning  of  state  regulation  of  city  life.   The  first  magistrates 
who  v/ere  not  political  magistrates  of  the  state,  but  had  the 
sJ^^aX'^business  to  look  after  the  city  streets,  to  see  that  they 
were  cleaned.to  see  that  the  food  supply  was  in  regular  quantities, 
e^tcTTlArare ""created  in  Athens  and  were  called,  I  may  say,  city 
mayors  as  now,  astynomi.  Asti  means  city,  nemein  means  to  care 
for.  \7e  have  people  or  men  elected  to  care  for  the  city.  '7Je 
have  the  first  laws  on  city  life,  how  to  build  houses,  how  to  keep 
in  order  the  streets,  who  was  responsible  for  the  dirt  thrown  out 
from  the  houses  onto  the  streets,  who  had  to  carry  it  away.  (7/hich 
by  the  way  7;ould  be  a  good  thing  in  Madison).   Plato  in  his  works 
refers  to  this  activity  of  the  astynomi  and  gives  some  plans  as  to 
what  the  regulations  of  city  life  should  be. 

As  the  city  of  Athens  and  the  other  cities  of  this  type 
grew  up  widely  with  enormous  strength,  the  population  grew  also, 
and  of  course  the  conditions  of  transportation  were  such  in 
the  city,  without  tramcars ,  subv.-ays,  etc.,  that  the  cities  were 
large  in  numbers  of  inhabitants,  but  small  in  size.   That  means 
that  the  land  ih  the  city  became  more  and  m.ore  expensive,  and 
that  instead  of  the  old  type  of  house  which  served  for  one  family, 
the  type  of  houses  v/hich  served  for  many  families  and  some  apart- 
ments replaced  the  old  type  of  fainily  house.   And  along  with  this, 
speculation  in  land  and  in  houses  was  developed.   This  was  the 
first  time  that  speculation  in  land  occurred.  Later  on  you  wilL 
see  what  enormous  developm.ent  it  took  in  Rome,  the  capital  of  the 
world.   "We  first  meet  the  question  of  land  speculation  in  Rome,  but 
it  was  already  prepared  for  by  the  evolution  of  such  cities  as 
Athens. 

The  Hellenistic  Period. 


The  empire  of  Athens  did  not  last  very  long.   It  was  checked 
by  the  ambitions  of  Sparta,  v\hich  was  the  leader  of  political  life 
in  Greece.   Aiid  you  knovi  that  the  tremendous  v/ars  for  Greek  supre- 
macy developed  between  the  tv;o  leading  cities,  between  the  maritime 
city  of  Athens  and  the  agricultural  city  of  Sparta,  the 
Peloponnesian  Y/ar .   This  war  is  compared  wit'n  the  fight  of  a  whale 
and  an  elephant.   And  it  is  so.  This  enormous  sea  monster,  Athens, 
and  this  enormous  land  monster,  Sparta,   It  ended  in  the  victory 

-37- 


of  Sparta.   Both  parties  were  vanquished,  and  Greece  began 
politically  to  decay.   I  should  not  like  to  fortell  the  decay 
of  Modern  Europe.   Sparta  was  as  well  vanquished  as  Athens,  but 
the  main  point  is  this:   Of  course  as  a  result  of  the  war  the 
Persian  monarchy  reigned  again  in  tlie  Trreek  v;orld  and  the  oriental 
world  became,  so  to  speak,  the  ruler  of  tlie  destinies  of  the  western 
world.   But  at  the  same  time  in  Greece,  in  Macedonia,  developed 
a  strong  united  monarchical  state  and  this  state  was  ready  to 
begin  the  fight  for  domination  against  Persia,  trying  to  unite  v/ith 
it  the  forces  of  Greece.   Its  first  task  was  to  unite  Greece  vath 
Macedonia  under  the  rule  of  one  king,  and  the  two  kings,  Phillip 
and  afterwards  Alexander,  succeeded  in  doing  this.   Afterv/ards  the 
main  purpose  was  to  check  the  avalanche  of  the  Persians.   As  you 
knov;  Alexander  moved  first  against  Asia  Minor,  to  free  the  Greek 
cities,  afterward  to  Mesopotamia,  finally  to  central  Asia,  and 
conquered  the  v;hole  of  the  Persian  Empire;  and  you  know  also  that 
this  enormous  empire,  the  Macedonian  Empire  of  Alexander,  did  not 
last  for  very  long.   Alexander  died  very  soon,  just  at  the  end 
(not  yet  the  end  of  his  political  plans'),  but  at  the  end  of  his 
conquest  of  the  Orient,  and  after  him  his  empire  was  divided  into 
many  monarchical  states  of  which  the  leading  ones  were  just  the 
old  states  of  the  oriental  world.   First  of  all  Egypt,  the  second  f^-ria, 
Meso.potamia  and  Central  Asia,  and  the  third  v/as  Macedonia  ruling 
over  the  Greeks.   Later  on  the  process  of  disintegration  was  going 
on  and  one  new  empire  after  another  was  formed.   First  of  all  some 
states  in  Asia  Minor,  especially  the  state  of  Pergamum  v/hich 
occupied  the  best  part  of  Asia  Minor. 

TiJhat  did  it  mean  from  the  historical  point  of  viev/  and  the 
point  of  viev/  of  the  development  of  cities?  It  means  that  now 
the  Greek  world  was  no  more  confined  to  the  mainland  of  Greece, 
to  the  shores  of  Asia  Minor,  and  to  the  southern  shores  of  Italy, 
and  to  some  places  on  the  shores  of  the  Black  Sea.   No  morel  The 
Greeks  became  the  ruling  nation  in  many  states  v/hich  covered  almost 
all  of  the  civilized  world  at  that  time.   It  means  that  as  Alexander 
was  a  Macedonian  and  vi/as  a  Hellene,  as  his  generals  who  took  over 
the  rule  in  different  lands  were  also  Macedonians  and  Greeks,  the 
Greek  nation  was  now  the  ruling  nation  in  both  the  Orient  and  the 
Occident,  and  tiiat  meant  that  devices  of  Greek  life  were  introduced 
into  places  where  nobody  had  heard  anything  of  them  before  and 
where  the  devices  of  oriental  life  reigned  supreme.   Greek  life 
poured  in,  not  only  on  the  shores  of  Asia  Minor,  but  inland.   It 
poured  into  Egypt,  Phoenicia,  Babylonia  and  Mesopotamia,  and  also 
into  Turkestan.   It  is  interesting  that  the  leading  cities  of 
Turkestan  were  created  by  Alexander  the  Great;  and  tliis  Greek 
influence  went  dovm  as  far  as  India,  but  there  it  did  not  last.  But 
in  the  rest  of  the  v;orld  it  lasted  from  about  300  B.C.  down  to  the 
time  v/hen  Rome  conquered  the  Orients  But  that  did  not  mean  the    i 
end  of  Greek  influence  and  predominance,  because  Rome  was  only  the  I 
follower  of  Greece  and  took  over  tlie  work  begun  by  the  Greeks.     j 

-38- 


Now  what  did  it  mean  -  this  introduction  of  the  Greek  lines 
of  life?  First  of  all  it  meant  the  introduction  of  the  type  of 
Greek  city  into  oriental  life,  and  that  was  the  "beginning  of  a 
spread  of  the  Greek  cities  all  over  the  Orient.  You  will  see  that 
the  same  task  was  taken  over  and  achieved  "by  the  Romans  in  the  West, 
and  that  is  the  origin  of  European  city  life.   In  the  Orient, 
cities  grew  up  one  after  another,  covering  the  main  hody  of  Asia 
Minor,  parts  of  the  southern  Caucasus,  Assyria,  Babylonia,  even 
Egypt,  although  they  were  not  called  cities  in  Egypt,  but  villages. 
Nov:,  again,  what  types  of  cities  developed  in  the  changed  con- 
ditions of  life,  -  "because  the  conditions  v.rere  changed?^  The  city 
state  was  no  more  the  ruling  political  form  of  civilized  life.  Most 
of  the  new  states  were  mere  territorial  states,  ruled  by  monarchs 
v/ho  took  over  the  traditions  of  the  oriental  monarchs.   These 
monarchs,  knov/ing  that  they   existed  and  ruled  so  long  as  they  had  a 
Greek  army  to  support  them  and  the  Greek  population  of  their  king- 
dom to  back  them,  were  not  purely  oriental  rulers.   They  tried  to 
form  a  compromise  bet-veen  oriental  and  Greek  life,  and  this  means 
that  they  were  obliged  to  give  to  the  Greeks  the  possibility  of 
living  conditions  such  as  they  were  accustomed  to,  and  that  means 
living  in  cities,  each  having  a  territory  of  land  and  self  govern- 
ment as  far  as  internal  affarrs  were  concerned.   They  paid  taxes 
to  the  treasury,  but  the  rest  v;as  left  to  the  Greeks.   "Do  as  you 
like,  govern  yourselves,  and  rule  yourselves  as  you  like,"  that 
v/as  *"he  main  compromise,  the  compromise  betv;een  the  oriental 
monarchal  power  at  the  head  and  self-governing  territories  forming 
the  main  foundation  of  the  state.  Of  course,  the  territories 
of  the  cities  did  not  cover  the  whole  of  the  territory  of  the  king- 
doms.  They  covered  the  most  fertile  parts  of  the  territory.   The 
rest  was  populated  by  subjects  of  the  king,  living  in  the  same 
conditions  of  serfdom  that  existed  under -the  oriental  dynasties. 
That  is  a  fact  to  retain  and  not  to  forget:  that  the  largest  part 
of  the  population  was  still  living  on  oriental  lines  under  the 
oriental  monarch.  But  at  the  same  time,  in  all  these  masses  of 
population  living  an  oriental  life,  were  introduced  larger  and 
smaller  islands  of  Greek  civilized  life. 

Novr  v;hat  did  it  mean  for  the  development  of  the  cities?  First 
of  all  it  means  that  quite  a  new  type  of  a  city  developed  with  a 
division  of  the  empire  into  many  independent  kingdoms  and  the 
formation  of  new  capitals  in  the  new  states;  this  type  was  a 
combination  of  an  oriental  capital  with  the  type  of  a  comr.ercial 
and  industrial  city  which  is  best  represented  by  Athens.   I  should 
say  a  combination  of  Moscov^/  and  London,  because  London  is  the  best 
parallel  to  Athens.  It  is  Vae   head  of  a  maritime  empire,  and  a 
commercial  center.   Sich  a  city  was  first,  of  all,  the  leading 
city  in  commerce  of  a  new  world,  created  by  Alexander  himself  -  the 
capital  of  Egypt,  on  the  sea,  transferred  from  Memphis  and  Thebes 
on  the  river  to  Alexandria  on  the  sea.   (That  means  a  complete 
change  of  all  conditions  of  Egyptian  life.   It  means  the 
Hellenization  of  Egypt).   The  city  grew  large  and  rich  at  once,  as 
it  was  backed  by  the  richest  country  in  the  v/orld  of  ancient  times. 
Egypt  was  alv/ays  the  richest  country  in  agriculture,  and  so  it  was 

-39- 


only  natural  that  Alexandria  should  become  the  capital  of  the^ 
Hellenistic  world.   Alexandria  was  not  alone  in  the  Hellenistic 
world.   A  city  "built  at  the  same  time,  as  near  as  possible  to  the 
sea,  on  the  river,  v;as  Ahtioch,  the  capital  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Syria  -  the  same  type  of  a  capital  of  a  state  ruled  by  one 
monarch,  built  on  Greek  lines  and  administered  on  Greek  lines. 
The  same  was  done  in  the  other  monarchies  of  the  Hellenistic _ 
world:  the  ephemeral  Thracian  kingdom  of  Lysimachus,  Macedonia, 
etc.   In  some  places  where  Greek  cities  were  already  in  existence 
the  Hellenistic  kings  transformed  one  of  these  into  a  capital. 
So  did  the  Pergamum  kingdom  v/ith  the  city  of  Pergamum,  which  v/as 
entirely  rebuilt  and  filled  vath  the  best  buildings  and  artistic 
vjorka.   So  did  also  Bithyraa,  Pontus  and  the  rest. 

Most  of  these  nev/  capitals  were  purely  artificial  cities. 
Modern  parallels  are  Berlin  and  Petrograd.   These  are  also  arti- 
ficial cities  built  by  kings,  and  are  combinations  of  cities  of 
the  oriental  type  with  the  cities  of  Greek  type,  or  European 
type.   They  are  residences  and  capitals,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
centers  of  commerce  and  industry.   Such  artificial  cities  of 
course  v/ere  built  on  the  lines  of  the  most  modern  achievements 
in  science  and  technique.   Athens  v/as  a  poor  village  compared 
with  the  beauty  of  Alexandria,  v.'hich  was  built  on  the  lines  of_ 
scientific  town  planning.   It  had  large  blocks  of  houses,  straight 
broc-i  streets  crossing  each  other  at  right  angles,  wonderful 
canalization  •- we  laay  be  able  to  restore  the  main  features  of  the 
city  of  Alexandria  while  investigating  the  canalization  -  and  a 
very  good  supply  of  water.   In  the  center  of  the  city  v/ere^  the 
palaces  of  the  kings  with  wonderful  buildings,  and  among  these 
buildings  '.he  first  academy  of  science,  just  like  the  Berlin  or 
Petrograd  academy  of  science.   Scholars  lived  at  public  expense 
and  were  obliged  to  teach  a  little  for  advanced  people,  especially 
for  introduction  into  research  work.   The  people  of  Alexandria 
were  the  first  to  build  a  zotJlogical  garden.   They  were  the  first 
to  build  up  a  real  gallery  of  pictures,  and  they  were  the  first 
also  to  create  a  library,  a  public  library.   The  library  was  the 
most  famous  in  the  world,  and  its  disappearance  was  due  probably 
to  the  Arabs,  xiho   burnsd  at  least  a  part  of  this  library.   Of  just 
the  same  type  was  Ahtioch,  and  the  German  excavations  of  Pergamum 
show  that  just  the  same  thing  was  going  on  there.   In  Pergamum, 
for  example,  v;e  have  still  the  ruins  of  its  famous  library,  the 
rival  of  the  Alex,  xdrian  library.   So  the  main  point  is  a  large 
artificial  capital  built  not  only  for  the  king  and  for  the  court 
and  for  the  gods,  but  built  also  for  the  citizens,  with  tlie  best 
possible  comfort  for  the  citizens,  built  to  make  life  easy  and 
comfortable.  But  the  same  thing  happened  at  Athens  that  happened 
in  Alexandria.  Means  of  transportation  limited  the  city,  concen- 
trated the  population,  and  houses  grew  up  like  the_ skyscrapers  in 
ITew  York.   Not  so  big,  of  course,  but  comparatively  big  for, 
Alexandria.   I  vdll  shov/  you  some  slides  next  time,  and  you  mil 
see  what  these  capitals  v/ere  like.' 

-40- 


'  Along  v.'ith  the  building  of  capitals  we  have  a  consequent 
trans forniat ion  of  the  territories  of  the  Hellenistic  kingdoms, 
except  Egypt,  into  a  conglomeration  of  city  territories;  this  was 
done  "by   different  means  and  in  different  ways.   One  of  the  most 
important  was  the  foundation  of  military  colonies.   The  Hellenistic 
kings  ruled,  of  couree,  by  mere  force  over  the  population  which  did 
not  recognise  them  and  did  not  like  them.   They  ruled  only  because 
they  were  rich;  they  imposed  tajjces  on  the  subjects  and  were  able 
to  pay  a  large  mercenary  army  consisting  mostly  of  Hellenized  or 
Greek  people.   This  army  was  necessarily  a  standing,  permanent 
army,  and  as  such  it  was  a  heavy  burden  on  the  finances  of  the  king- 
doms.  To  keep  the  army  busy  in  peace  times  and  at  the  same  tirae  to 
diminish  the  burden  of  the  treasury,  the  Hellenistic  kings  formed 
the  soldiers  into  military  colonies,  settling  them  in  a  nev;  city 
and  giving  them  large  parcels  of  lajid  which  formed  the  territory 
of  the  city.   The  same  devices  were  used  for  the  veterans.   Such 
was  one  type  -  ttie  military  colonies  of  soldiers  and  veterans. 

A  second  type  was  the  colony  of  emigrants  from  Greece,  who 
came  to  look  for  new  opportunities  in  the  economic  life,  and  who 
asked  for  places  to  develop  their  activity  in  tlie  new  monarchies. 
Some  of  tiiese  emigrants  were  absorbed  by  the  capitals,  but  the 
larger  part  formed  new  cities  with  large  territories.   This  was  the 
third  type  of  Hellenistic  cities.  And  a  fourth  type  was  a  re- 
modexiiig  of  old  Greek  cities  on  nev;  lines,  which  was  made  possible 
by  the  enormous  wealth  acquired  by  these  cities  because  of  their 
new  relations  with  the  Orient,  more  or  less  the  same  thing  that 
happened  in  Spain  after  the  discovery  of  America.  Most  of  the  old 
Greek  cities,  especially  in  Asia  Minor,  were  rebuilt  on  nev/ 
scientific  lines,  giving  the  population  just  tiie  comfort  and  the 
ease  which  v;as  required  by  everybody,  by  what  was  then  a  civilized 
man.  Needless  to  say,  the  same  was  the  case  for  the  cities  which 
were  first  built  during  the  Hellenistic  period. 


-41- 


Lecture  4 
February  23,  1922 


The  Roman  Empire 


Thus  far  I  have  dealt  mostly  v;ith  the  Oriental  world  and 
with  the  Oriental  part  of  the  civilized  world.   The  regions  of 
the  Near  East,  Egypt,  Asia  Minor  and  Greece  attracted  oux  chief 
attention-  But  remember  that  our  problem  was  to  investigate  the 
conditions  of  city  life  in  "Western  Europe,  where  city  life  had  3 
more  brilliant  development  than  in  the  Orient,  and  where  city  life 
was  the  foundation  of  the  future  development  of  civilization  and 
of  civilized  life  for  state  and  people.   In  the  Orient  the  cities 
did  not  thrive  for  very  long.  You  know  that  the  late  Roman  Empire 
had  its  main  center  in  the  Greek  city  of  Byzantium,  nov/  Constanti- 
nople. But  this  is  almost  the  only  great  city  which  remains  from 
the  ancient  times  that  still  has  an  importance  in  the  history. of 
civilized  majakind;  and  of  course,  as  you  remember,  in  the  earlier 
times  it  was  not  one  of  the  leading  cities  of  the  Oriental  v/orld. 
Byzantium  played  in  the  history  of  the  Greek  world  rather  a  modest 
part  until  Constantine,  one  of  the  Roman  emperors  in  the  4th 
century  A-  D.  transferred  one  of  the  centers  of  Roman  state  life 
to  this  rather  modest  place.   Of  the  other  cities  I  have  named  to 
you,  only  Athens,  anyrna,  and  .Alexandria  still  exist  as  comparatively 
impo?  '■'^.nt  centers  of  city  life;  but  compared  with  the  importance 
which  these  cities  had  in  ancient  times,  their  importance  of  to-day 
is  almost  nothing.   Athens  is  the  capital  of  modern  Greece.  Modern 
Greece  has  a  certain  part  in  tlie  life  of  the  Near  East  of  to-day, 
but,  as  you  knov/,  the  ¥ear  Ea=^t  does  not  play  a  very  important 
part  in  our  economic  and  social  life  in  general.   Smyrna,  the 
capital  of  Asia  Minor,  is  in  the  same  position.   Alexandria  is 
still  the  main  harbor  of  Egypt.   The  capital  is  the  old  Memphis, 
the  new   Cairo.   Alexandria  is  one  of  the  harbors  of  the  new  modern 
Egypt,  but  its  importance  cannot  be  compared  with  the  importance 
of  ancient  Alexandria.   Of  the  other  Oriental  cities  I  could  not 
name  one  which  has  the  importance  which  many  of  the  citied  of  the 
Greek  world  had  in  the  ancient  times. 

quite  different  are  the  conditions  in  T/estern  Europe.  You 
know  that  Italy  is  nov;  a  congloraeraticn  of  cities-   I  know  of  no 
journey  of  two  or  three  hours  that  can  be  made  there  without  passing' 
important  cities.   Italy  is  full  of  cities.   If  you  take  France, 
if  you  take  Spain,  Belgium,  Germany,  even  the  lands  of  the  Danube, 
you  have  everywhere  the  same  picture.   Cities  one  after  another. 
Try  now,  for  exaiP.ple,  to  travel  on  the  Rliine.  You  will  see  almost 
no  interruption  betv/een  the  cities  which  are  situated  on  the  Rhine, 
and  I  should  say  that  a  large  part  of  Belgium  is  one  large  city. 
You  pass  through  some  places  in  Belgium  where  there  is  no  free  space 
between  cities.   The  same  is  the  case  in  the  southern  part  of 
England,  and  America,  as  I  have  told  you,  is  under  the  same  kind 
of  development. 

-42- 


I  must  come  nov/  to  solve  the  question  of  the  origin  of  this 
city  life  in  V/estern  Europe.   It  is  a  problem  of  modern  evolution, 
of  evolution  in  the  Middle  Ages  and  afterwards  in  the  time  of  the 
Renaissance,  or  is  city  life  older  and  more  ancient  than  that?  as 
you  look  at  the  map  of  Western  Europe  nov/adays  and  you  try  to  fix 
the  history  of  the  most  important  places  you  will  see  that,  for 
example,  in  Italy  you  have  no  one  city  which  is  not  standing  now 
on  the  ruins  of  an  ancient  city.  For  example,  Florence,  Milan, 
Genoa,  the  largest  cities  of  Italy,  are  all  situated  on  the  place 
where  cities  were  already  flourishing  in  the  qncient  times.   Of^ 
Rome  you  know  the  story.   I  do  not  need  to  explain  it  to  you.  City 
life  never  ceased  in  Rome.   The  same  is  true  ahout  Naples,  all  the 
cities  of  Sicily,  etc.   In  France  -Paris,  Lyons,  Marseilles, 
Bordeaux,  etc.  were  cities  in  the  Roman  tine.  On  the  Rhine  almost 
all  the  leading  cities  are  ancient  Roman  cities.   (Cologne,  Mainz, 
Strassburg,  Bonn,   Tieves,  etcO   In  Spain  it  is  just  the  same,  anji 
almost  all  the  leading  cities  and  capitals  on  the  Danube  are 
heirs  of  a  Roman  city  (Vienna,  Budapest,  Belgrade,  Sophia,  etc.) 

It  is  nece: 
they  developed. 

Western  Europe  into  city  territories?  You  must  include  in  Western 
Europe  the  northern  part  of  Africa  also.   Although  nov;  northern 
Africa  is  no  more  a  land  of  cities,  like  the  rest  of  the  Orient,  in 
the  Roman  times  it  was  a  land  of  cities  as  well  as  Germany,  France. 
Italy,  etc.  But  later  we  have  the  destruction  of  the  leading  cities 
in  Africa  and  the  preservation  of  only  a  few  of  them.   Such  are  the 
conditions. 

Now  what  is  the  origin?   If  you  take  Europe  at  the  time  when 
cities  were  developing,  first  in  the  Orient  and  afterwards  in 
Greece,  Europe  v;as  in  no  way  a  land  of  cities.  Western  Europe  was 
covered  with  the  type  of  prehistoric  centers  of  social  life  of  v^ich 
I  have  spoken  in  my  first^ lecture.  Protected  fortified  villages, 
refuges  for  shepherds  and  agriculturists,  lake  dwellings  partly 
imitated  on  dry  land,  such  were  the  types  of  centers  of  social  life 
in  western  Europe  as  far  down  as,  I  should  say,  the  6th  and  Sth 
centuries  B.C.,  the  time  when  the  Orient  and  Greece  especially 
v;ere  already  covered  v/ith  many  cities - 

Where  did  the  city  life  originate  in  western  Europe?   Of 
course  in  Italy'.   And  you  understand  perfectly  well  v/hy.   Of 
course,  Carthage  in  Africa  did  not  play  a  very  important  part  in 
the  development  of  city  life  in  the  western  world.   Carthage  wasa 
commercial  city  and  exploited  the  r;estern  world  from  the  commercxal 
point  of  view,  as  a  clace  of  exchange  between  the  Orient  and  the 
western  part  of  the  European  world.   Of  course,  Carthage  founded 
many  colonies,  but  these  colonies  were  seldom  cities  and  centers 
of  city  life;  they  were  very  modest  and  not  propagating,  just 
stations  for  commerce.   Some  of  them  were  situated  on  the  .shores  ol 
Sicily,  some  in  Sardinia,  a  few  in  Corsica,  many  in  Spain.   In 
Britair;  we  have  not  yet  discovered  one  of  these  stations.   All 

-43- 


that  we  know  is  that  the  commercial  relations  were  important.   So 
Carthage  did  not  play  an  important  part  in  the  development  of  city 
life  in  the  "7/est. 

More  important  was  the  part  played  by  the  oriental  and 
Greek  world*  by  the  oriental  v;orld  "because  a  part  of  the  population 
of  Asia  Minor  emigrated,  probably  about  1,000  B.C.,  from  Asia 
Minor  and  went  to  settle  down  on  the  shores  of  Italy,  I  mean  those 
mysterious  people,  the  Etruscans.  He   can  read  their  inscriptions, 
but  we  cannot  understand  them.  But  we  know  a  great  deal  about 
their  civilization,  and  so  we  are  able  to  judge  that  the  main 
foundations  of  this  civilization  were  of  the  oriental  type 
flourishing  about  1,000  B.C.  in  Asia  Minor.   Now  the  Iltruscans, 
even  v;hen  in  Asia  Minor,  -.vere  in  relation  with  the  Aegean  and 
Greek  v/orld.  Very  soon  they  developed  a  half  Greek  life  in 
Italy  also.   They  remained  in  constant  relations  with  the  Greeks 
and  v/ere  under  the  strong  influence  of  Greek  forms  of  social, 
political  and  economic  life.   So  they  formed  in  Ztruria  a  nucleus 
of  some  scores  of  cities  on  the  Graeco-Oriental  model,  on  the 
model  of  the  Greek  cities  in  Asia  Minor.   They  were  abodes  of  a 
conquering  population  of  big  landov/ners  and  v;ealthy  merchants, 
who  lived  under  the  protection  of  their  v;alls  built  of  stone, 
and  who  dominated  the  land  populated  by  peoples  of  Italian 
origin  who  worked  for  them  as  serfs.   That  is  just,  as  you  see, 
the  .j^e   of  half  oriental  life  in  Asia  Minor.   That  was  one  spot 
which  was  the  first  center  of  city  life  in  Italy. 

The  second  was  in  southern  Italy  and  Sicily.   I  have  told 
you  these  places  v;ere  for  the  ancient  world  just  v;hat  America 
was  for  England  in  the  colonial  period,  and  many  scholars  indulge 
in  the  drawing  of  a  close  parallel  betv/een  the  development  of 
Anerica  -  the  Great  England,  in  regard  to  England  and  the  develop- 
ment of  this  Magna  Graecia  on  the  shores  of  Italy.   That  is  not 
very  important,  but  it  is  interesting,  because  Greek  civilization 
v;as  implanted  in  Italy  in  leading  and  very  important  cities  many 
of  vvfhich  still  keep  their  importance  as  centers  of  social  and 
economic  life.  For  example,  Tarentura  is  situated  on  the  site  of 
a  large  and  important  city  which  existed  all  through  the  Greek 
times  and  the  times  of  Roman  domination.  Naples,  v^as  one  of  the 
main  harbors  of  the  Greeks,  beginning  with  the  7th  century  B.C. 
and  is  still  the  leading  southern  port  of  Italy.   Syracuse,  the 
center  of  a  large  Greek  state,  was  one  of  the  largest  and  most 
beautiful  cities  of  the  Greek  world.   Although  it  is  now  not  as 
important  as  it  was,  it  is  still  existing  as  a  city;  it  is  one  of 
the  important  cities  of  Sicily,  though,  of  course,  not  as  important 
as  Palermo.  One  city  after  another  v/as  built  in  Italy  by  the 
Greeks,  with  all  the  realities  of  city  life;  and  this  process 
began  as  early  as  in  the  9th  century  B.C.  and  lasted  through  the 
8th,  7th,  and  6th  centuries.   During  this  time  almost  all  the  impor- 
tant places  suitable  for  agriculture  and  commerce  in  southern 
Italy  v/ere  occupied  by  the  Greeks. 

-44- 


How  you  know  that  these  two  centers  of  civilization  in  Italy 
■were  very  important  for  the  development  of  the  Indo-European 
tribes  not  belonging  to  the  Greel<:  stock  v/hich  settled  in  Italy, 
those  which  v;e  call  Italic  tribes.  They  v;ere  akin  to  the  Celts 
(the  Gauls)  and  the  Germans.   They  probably  came  from  the  Danube 
across  the  Alps  and  settled  down  first  in  northern  Italy  and  after- 
v;ards  propagated  all  through  the  peninsula  of  the  Apennines.   Now 
they  were  cut  off  fcr  a  long  time  from  the  sea  by  the  Etruscans 
and  by  the  Greeks  and  by  some  Illyrian  tribes  v/hich  still  exist  on 
the  eastern  shore  of  the  Adriatic  Sea,  as  the  eastern  shore  of 
Italy  was  almost  entirely  occupied  by  peoples  of  the  Illyrian  stock. 
So  the  Italians  were  confined  to  tlie  mountainous  lands  on  the 
Apennines,  and  the  only  cutlet  thej  had  to  the  sea  was  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Tiber  v.'here  one  branch  of  the  Italians,  the  Latins, 
had  patiently  built  up  civilized  life  and  a  state  life  v/hich 
constantly  developed  and  took  more  and  more  firm  hold.   Y/hat  is 
the  explanation  of  the  fact  that  this  whole  place  v;as  left  to 
the  Latins  by  the  Etruscans  and  the  Greeks?  The  mouth  of  the 
Tiber  is  not  a  very  attractive  place.   It  7;as  infected  by 
malaria,  and  it  is  very  hard  to  cultivate.   The  soil  is  very  cal- 
citrant and  not  very  v/ell  adapted  to  the  efforts  of  agriculture. 
On  the  other  hand,  Latium  was  a  kind  of  neutral  zone  between  the 
two  rivals  -  Etruria  and  the  Greelc  Italy,  -  v/here  both  the 
Etruscans  and  Greeks  had  their  commercial  interests.   That 
expl'^ins  vtoy  the  early  civilization  and  the  city  life  among 
the  Italians  first  developed  in  Lativuia.   I  need  not  explain  at 
length  hov;  civilized  state  life  developed  in  Latium  and  how 
gradually  the  leading  cities  which  founded  a  colony  nea.r  the 
mouth  of  the  Tiber,  the  future  Rome,  were  obliged  to  cede  the 
supremacy  to  Rome  and  how  Rome  developed  into  a  leader  of  the 
Latin  cities  and,  so  to  speak,  the  president  of  the  league  of 
the  Latin  cities,  the  leader  in  war  and  peace. 

Ix  took  some  centuries  to  transform  P.ome  from  the  refuge 
6f  shepherds  ajid  a  fortress  of  Latiujn,  a  bridgehead  against 
Etruria,  into  a  large  and  flourishing  city.   Suffice  it  to  say- 
that  Rome  v;as  the  last  in  Latium  to  develop  on  the  lines  of  city 
life.   The  Latin  cities  underwent  the  same  process  earlier,  and 
that  was  due  tc  the  influence  of  city  life  coming  both  from  Greece 
and  from  Etruria.   So  the  first  place  for  the  development  of  city 
life  in  Italy,  along  with  southern  Italy  and  Etruria,  v/as  X^tium_ 
v/ith  many  comparatively  big  cities  of  v;hich  many  still  exist.  For 
example,  Plascab  (Tusculum)  and  Tivoli  (Tibur). 

The  second  place  for  the  development  of  city  life  in  Italy 
under  Greelc  influence  and  affecting  another  tribe,  was  Jampaniaj. 
one  of  the  best  parts  of  Italy  nov/.  You  knov/  that  the  Itallahs 
say  "Bee  Naples  and  die."  That  is  the  best  land,  very  rich  indeed - 
rich  in  v/ine,  rich  in  olive  trees,  rich  in  crops,  having  everytliing 
which  anybody  may  v;ish.   It  has  a  wonderful  climate.   This  best 
place  attracted,  of  course,  from  time  immemorial  all  the  leading 

-45- 


peoples  in  Italy.   First,  the  Greeks,  who  created  here  some 
flourishing  cities  like  Naples  and  Cyme-   Afterwards  the  Etruscans, 
during  their  domination  in  Italy  in  the  7th  and  6th  centuries, 
tried  to  seize  this  land  and  huild  a  city  which  v/as  called  Capua. 
Afterwards  the  Samnites,  who  were  under  the  influence  of  the 
Greeks,  for  centuries  trading  with  them  and  imitating  their 
civilization,  got  organized  and  rich,  and  of  course  in  their 
mountains  there  were  not  as  many  opportunities  as  in  Campania., 
30  they  tried  to  occupy  Campania.   The  natives  of  Campania  had 
"been  under  the  strong*  influence  of  the  Greeks  from  time  immemorial 
and  they  "began  to  build  flourishing  cities  as  early  as  the  5th 
century  B.C.  and  prohahly  earlier.  One  of  the  most  splendid 
examples  of  these  cities  in  Campania  v/as  Pompeii,  a  city  which 
was  the  center  of  the  native  population.   It  was  later  influenced 
"by  the  Greeks  and  was  Hellenized  and  became  a  city  of  the  Greek 
type.   Afterwards  it  was  for  some  time  taken  by  the  Etruscans  and 
developed  by  the  Etruscan  influence,  but  that  was  for  a  very  short 
time  indeed.   Finally,  it  became  for  a  long  time  a  city  of 
Hellenized  Saronites.   Cities  like  Pompeii  v;ere  many.   ITola, 
Stabiae  and  Herculaneuia  are  the  cities  best  known  to  us  because 
they  were  covered  by  ashes  during  the  eruption  of  Vesuvius  in  79  A.D< 
So  Campania  was  the  second  place  of  development  of  city  life,  and 
under  this  influence  city  life  was  propagated  everywhere  in  Italy. 

Hovi   you  knov7  the  destinies  of  Rome.   Rome  first  succeeded 
in  uniting  around  herself  the  cities  and  the  peoples  of  Latium; 
afterwards  she  gained  strength  in  the  conflict  with  the  mountainous 
peoples  in  her  nearest  neighborhood  and  succeeded  in  conquering 
them;  gradually  she  conquered  one  part  of  the  Etruscan  territory 
after  another;  finally,  after  very  long  and  very  important  wars 
with  tlie  Samnites,  Rome  succeeded  in  uniting  under  her  sway  all 
of  central  Italy.   After  that  Rome  began  political  relations  witi' 
the  Greek  cities  and  asked  the  Greek  cities  to  obey  her  and  to  enter 
into  the  Roman  alliance,  as  she  called  her  form  of  political 
domination.   Italian  Greece  tried  to  refuse  to  enter  such  an 
alliance,  but  was  conquered  and  was  obliged  to  enter  into  the 
Latin-Roman  alliance  by  the  middle  of  the  3rd  century  B.C.,  at  the 
time  v/hen  Greece  was  in  her  Hellenistic  period.   At  this  period 
Italy  v/as  united  under  the  leadership  of  Rome,  and  that  is  a  very 
important  topic  and  very  important  feature,  because  Rome  was  a 
city  state,  just  a  city-state  of  the  Greek  type.   The  Greek 
influence  lasted  too  long  in  Italy  not  to  achieve  in  Italy  the 
city  state.   The  Latin  cities  which  formed  the  earlier  alliance 
of  Rome  were  all  city  states.   The  Etruscan_  cities  were  another 
group  of  city  states  on  the  Greek  model  and' the  cities  of  Campania 
were  again  organized  as  Greek  city  states.   So  the  leading  form  of 
political  existence  in  Italy  was  an  alliance  under  the  xeadership 
of  Rome  of  scores  of  city  states.  But  the  city  states  did  not 
occupy  all  of  the  territory  of  Italy,  llany  places  in  the  mountains 
and  in  the  olains  remained  outside  of  city  territories  and  ot  tne 
form  of  life  of  the  cit^  states.   Rome  accepted^enti^rely-Jtixe-Uxeeis: 
idea  of  civilization,  i'^.e.,  tliat  ei^Fiir^ednn^e  was  possible  only 
^TT^-g-formof  a  city  state;  and  so  Rome,  when  it  became  possible 

-46- 


for_Jier^_began  to   develop_  city  life  consciously  in  Italy,    with 
the^urpos^e^'anarprinciple   of   impiantins  new  and  more  nev/  cities 
all    over   Italy, 

One   of   the  most   important   features   of   the   establishment   of 
these   cities    on  the   Greek  model  was   the  sending   out   of   colonies. 
One   colony  after  another  was   sent  out  by  Rome  to    different  places 
of  Italy   -  many  of  them  were  situated  on  the   shores,    in  the 
mountains,    and  ever^^where.      The  leading   feature   of   these   colonies 
was  not  the   same  as   the   leading   feature   of  the  Greek   colonies. 
The  Greek    colonies  were   just   new   city  states    created  by  the  Greeks, 
independent  of  their  mother   country,    and  having   only  the   importance 
of  being   nev;  centers   of   civilized  tnd  political   life.      For  Rome   a 
colony  v/ as  a  different  thing.     ForRome_jthe__colonv  was   the  propa- 
gation  of  Rome  through  Italy.   ancT  of  Roman  domination.      The 
colonies  were  not   independent   city  etates ;    they  were  branches   of 
the  Roman   city  states    -  branches,    living  bodies,    taken   off   the 
body  of   Rome  and   implanted  for   the  purposes    of  the   Roman  state 
in  different  parts   of  Italy.      Preservation,    therefore,   meant 
military    organization  for  a  long^ period.      They  were  more   of  the 
nature   of   fortified  places   and  of  military  camps    than  new  centers 
of  agricultural  or  commercial   life.     But,    of   course,    the  Roman 
state  was   a  peasant  state.      The  Roman  state  v;as   founded  on  the 
peasants    of  the  plains    of  Latium,   v/ho   transformed  the   treacherous 
soiD    i-^to   fertile  and  pleasant   land  by  m.eans   of  hard  work.      The 
Roman  army  was  an  army  of   the  peasants   and  the  leaders  v;ere   leaders 
of  armed  peasa.nts  .      That  means   that   tJie_cplony  was   not   only  a 
part  of   the  Roman  citizen  army,    it  v/as   at  the  same   time  a  branch 
■-trf^"e  Roman  "agricultural   cominunity,    concuering   the  land  as  well 
^  meajis_]oi3_arms   as  by  means   of  plows    in  these   communities.     An 
implantation  of    the  Roman   colonies  meant  alvrays    the   creation  of  a 
nev;  agricultural  territory  by  the  Roman  peasant  soldiers-      That   is 
very   important  because  it  will  show  hov/  afterv/ards  Rome   implanted 
the   same  kind  of  new  cities    outside   of   Italy  in  the  provinces   and 
especially  in  the  v/estern  provinces.      That  was   one  means   of  propa- 
gating  city  life   in  Italy. 

The   second  was   sending   out,    not   colonies    of  Roman   citizens 
only,   but   colonies   of   the    allies  who   gathered  around  Rome,    first, 
the  Latin  and  afteiv;ards   the  Italian  allies.      They  sent   out 
colonies    of    the   same    type   and  for   the   same   purpose.      And  gradually 
Rome  tried  also   to    implant   into  the   life    of    the   tribes,   which  did 
not  know  anything  of   city  life,    the   necessity   of  going  over  to   a 
city  life;    because  Rome    treated  only  v/ith  groups    that    -vere 
organized,   which  had  the  same   form  as  Rome  had,    I  mean  the   form  of 
a  city   states     With   the   tribes   no  real  alliance  v/as  possible.   That 
was  possible  only  between  one  city  state,    which  was  Borne,    with 
another    city  state.      Therefore,    the   existing   city  states    of 
Etruria,    Greece,    and  Campania  were   accepted  in  the   alliance  without 
difficulty.      But  there  v/ere  many  tribes    in  central   and  northern 
Italy  populated  by  Italian  and  Gaulic   tribes  v/here   city   life  was 
practically  unknown.      Of   course,    the  germs   of   city   life  v/ere 
imported   into    these   territories  with   the  Latin  and  Roman   colonies. 

-47- 


These  germs  began  to  develop,  smd  these  Roman  colonies  v;ere 
gradually  imitated  by  the  native  population,  and  territories 
populated  by  the  tribes  were  gradually  transformed  into  cities 
v/ith  territories  of  the  same  type  and  of  the  same  structure  as  the 
Latin  city  states,  the  Greek  and  the  Etruscan  ones.   This  happened 
in  the  4th  -  2nd  centuries,  B.C.   Gradually  Italy  became  what  it 
is  now,  a  conglomerate  of  cities,  which  means  city  states. 

At  the  same  time  Rome  as  the  leading  city  began  to  develop, 
not  into  one  of  the  allied  city  states,  but  into  the  capital  of 
Italy.   That  is  the  fourth  period  in  the  life  of  Rome.  First,  you 
have  a  group  of  herdsmen;  afterwards  a  city,  one  of  the  Latin  city 
states;  the  third  was  the  leadership  among  the  Latin  city  states; 
and  the  fourth  period  was  the  leadership  of  Italy,  Rome  being  the 
capital  of  Italy  v/here  political  life  of  Italy  was  concentrated  and 
where  the  great  part  of  the  commercial  and  social  life  was  also 
concentrated;  a  very  interesting  period  in  the  development  of  Rome. 
Rome  as  the  ca.pital  of  Italy  had  more  or  less  the  same  aspect  as 
Athens  in  Greece.   Just  the  same.   Athens  was  the  center  of  a  large 
maritime  alliance;  Rome  was  the  center  of  an  enormous  and  very 
strong  alliance  of  land  states,  but  both  v;ere  centers  of  a  state 
v;here  the  constituent  parts  v;ere  city  states  just  the  same  as  the 
leading  city  was.   This  allia.nce  was  a  mighty  and  a  very  important 
factor  in  the  development  of  the  ancient  world.   You  know  the  story. 
I  have  not  to  tell  you  the  story  or  the  history  of  Rome  during  the 
seconc  century  BjC,  the  first  century,  etc.  You  know  that  Italy 
under  the  leaderwhip  of  Rome  became  one  of  the  most  influential 
members  of  the  balance  of  power  of  the  Hellenistic  period.  Being 
an  influential  member  of  this  society  of  nations,  Rome,  of  course, 
being  the  most  powerful  of  them  and  having  a  better  constitution 
based  not  on' an  absolutistic  monarchy,  but  on  republican  princip3 es , 
had  of  course  the  possibility  of  dictating  her  conditions  to  the 
other  parts  of  this  society  of  ancient  nations.   Now  of  course  the 
Greeks  were  not  prepared  to  obey  Rome.   They  were  too  proud  of  their 
civilization  and  too  much  convinced  that  they  were  stronger  than 
Rome.   That  v;as  the  reason  why  one  leading  Hellenistic  power  after 
another  tried  to  attack  Italy  and  tried  to  make  Italy  serve  the 
purposes  of  this  lea.ding  state.   First  Macedonia;  afterwards  Syria; 
Egypt  never  tried  it,  because  it  knev/  how  strong  Rome  was.   In 
the  course  of  these  wars  Asia  Minor,  the  Balkan  peninsula  and  the 
Near  East  gr.adually  became  dependent  on  Italy  and  at  the  same  time 
Roman  civilization  proceeded.   Well  toward  the  end  of  the  first 
century  B.C.  v;as  formed  the  Roman  Empire.   The  result  was  that  Rome 
v;as  the  only  leading  empire  in  the  v;orld  and  Rome  commanded  all  that 
v;as  the  civilized  mankind  of  the  ancient  v/orld. 

You  know  that  Italy  formed  the  center  and  the  leading  part  of 
this  enormous  and  mighty  empire,  and  that  the  other  parts  of  the 
world  were  divided  into  provinces  of  Rome.   It  is  more  or  less 
the  same  constitution  as  the  constitution  of  the  British  Empire,  - 
more  or  less  the  same.  You  have  a  central,  but  thickly  populated 
land  with  a  good  constitution,  with  a  national  unity  and 

-48- 


dependencies  more  or  less  civilized,  seme  entirely  civilized,  some 
not  civilized,  and  some  getting  civilized  gradually.   Iirst  oi  axx 
you  have  in  Italy  herself  a  central  land  populated  by  Roman 
citizens.  Outside  of  Italy  there  were  groups  of  Roman  citizens, 
those  sent  out  to  form  colonies,  and  trading  people  m  allied   • 
oitieo  and  the  provinces,  but  as  a  rule  the  Roman  cibizenship 
•was  concfntTFitpd  in  Italy.   The  first  province  annexed  to  Rome 
was  Sicily,  followed  by  Sardinia  and  Corsica;  the  next  v;as  Spam, 
next  Africa,  later  on  a  large  part  of  Gaul;  in  the  Orient  the 
first  was  Itacedonia,  and  the  next  was  Asia;  and  later  one  land 
after  another  was  annexed  to  this  net  of  Roman  provinces  until 
the  boundaries  almost  entirely  coincided  with  the  boundaries  of 
the  civilized  world.   The  only  exception  was  the  Orient,  where  the 
neighbor  of  Rome,  the  ancient  Persian  Empire  (the  Snpire  of  Parthia), 
v/as  a  civilized  and  thriving  state.   In  southern  Russia  Rome  in- 
fluenced the  Greek  cities  of  the  shores,  but  it  never  possessed 
and  never  had  any  influence  on  central  Russia  or  even  on  the 
steppes  of  southern  Russia.   The  Balkan  peninsula  was  almost  en- 
tirely occupied  and  was  divided  from  the  Germans  by  the  River 
Danube,  the  Rliine  forming  the  northeastern  boundary  between  the 
Romanized  provinces  of  Gaul,  and  the  Germanic  tribes.   In  Spain 
and  Britain  the  Roman  Empire  bordered  the  ocean,  and  in  Africa, 
the  desert. 

Now,  viiat  is  important  for  us  to  know  and  V7hat  I  v;ill  try  to 
explain  next  time,  is  hov/  Rome  dealt  vath  these  new  provinces 
with  no  city  life,  except  in  the  Oriental  provinces  and  in  some 
places  on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  in  the  Test.   About  the 
second  century  A-D- ,  almost  all  the  western  provinces  and  large 
tracts  of  land  in  the  Orient  had  the  same  aspect  as  Italy  in  the 
third  and  second  centuries  B.C.   They  v;ere  transformed  into  lands 
where  the  cities  were  the  dominating  social,  economic  and 
political  features.   That  led  to  the  results  of  which  I  spoke  at 
the  beginning  of  my  lecture,  that  is,  the  expansion  resulting 
malcing  Prance,  Britain  and  Germa^ny  lands  of  cities;  and  it  led  at 
the  same  time  to  the  result  given  in  my  first  lecture,  the  contrast 
of  city  and  country  population.   In  my  last  lecture  I  will  try  to 
explain  the  features  of  city  life  in  the  Roman  Empire,  beginning _ 
with  the  first  century  B.C.;  and  I  will  try  to  show  how  the  leaaing 
countries  were  transformed  into  countries  v;here  cities  were  the 
leading  social  element* 


-49- 


Lecture  5, 
February  28,  1922. 

The  Roman  Empire-  (Concluded) 

I  have  told  you  how  the  city  of  Rome  gradually  became  first 
the  center  of  a  league  of  cities  in  the  small  place  called  Latium; 
how  gradually  Latium,  headed  by  Rome,  became  the  center  of  Italy, 
transforming  Italy  into  another  league  of  cities  and  tribes;  how 
Rome  transformed  gradually  the  tribes  of  this  league  into  as  many 
cities  again.   The  next  stage  in  the  development  of  Rome  is  Rome 
as  one  of  the  powers  which  formed  the  balance  of  pov/er  during  the 
Hellenistic  period.   I  explained  tc  you  also  hov;  Rome,  being  the 
mightiest  member  of  this  league  of  nations  of  the  Hellenistic 
period,  began  to  dominate  the  balance  of  pov;er  and  transformed 
what  v/as  the  balance  of  power  into  a  Roman  Empire  of  which  the 
center  v/as  the  city  of  Rome.   It  was  another  Athenian  league, 
but  built  on  a  sounder  basis  than  the  league  of  Athens  was.   You 
know,  and  I  do  not  have  to  explain  to  you  here  -  it  would  take  too 
much  time  -  that  internal  troubles,  civil  and  social  war  in  Italy, 
herself  during  the  first  century  B.C.,  did  not  check  the  domination 
of  Rome,  but  transformed  the  internal  structure  of  Rome,  which  was 
not  adapted  to  the  nev>;  conditions,  into  a  new  form  of  political   , 
constitution  v;hich  was  a  compromise  betv/een  the  oriental  monarchyf 
and  the  Greek  city  state,  just  as  the  Hellenistic  monarchies  were 
such  a  compromise.  But  even  in  the  new  form,  Rome  remained  the 
leading  city  of  the  new  world  empire  of  Rome;  and  it  is  not  for 
nothing  that  the  new  world  empire  was  not  called  the  Italian  Empire. 
never  would  anybody  think  of  speaking  of  an  Italian  world  pov/er. 
Th^X_S£Oi^§-_?^^out_jthe^^oinajis_  ^^  being  the  masters  of  the  worlc  and 
of  the  city  of  Rorae  as  being  the  mistress,  the  ruler,  the  dominate r 
~wITIch~was"~o b e ye d  e verywhef e^  by  everyone.   That  is  interesting  again, 
sliov/ing  you  the  leading  part  which  v/as  played  by  a  city  in  this 
transformation  of  the  ancient  v/orld  into  a  world  empire;  it  v/as 
achieved  by  the  city  state  and  not  by  an  oriental  monarchy  or  some 
league  of  cities.   One  city  did  achieve  the  v/orld  empire. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  history  of  cities,  it  is 
interesting  to  see  how,  during  the  centuries  of  development,  the 
city  of  Rome  has  gradually  assumed  nevi   forms  of  city  life.   First 
a  modest  refuge  of  shepherds,  the  city  of  Rome  became  afterwards  one 
of  the  cities  of  Latium,  one  of  the  oppida,  a  kind  of  intermediary 
between  real  city  and  a  fortified  refuge;  how  under  the  Etruscans 
the  city  of  Rome  assumed  m.ore  and  more  the  forms  of  a  city  state; 
how  afterwards  the  city  became  a  kind  of  capital  of  Latium  and  later 
on  the  capital  of  Italy;  and  how  at  that  time  it  assumed  almost  the 
same  forms  that  were  assumed  by  Athens  during  the  domination  of 
Athens  in  Greece.  But  gradually  Rome  surpassed,  so  to  speak,  Athens. 
Rome  was  no  longer  the  center  of  an  Italian  league  of  cities  as 
Athens  v/as  the  center  of  a  Greek  league  of  cities.   It  became  the 
■  capital  of  the  civilized  world  and,  as  you  know,  by  means  of  a  social 
and  of  a  civil  v/ar,  Rome  was  transformed  into  a  monarchial  capital 

-50- 


of  just  the  same  type  as  Alexandria,  Antioch,  Pergamum  and  the 
ruling  cities  of  Macedonia.   It^became  the  cent^  oj  a-  civilized 
statewith  a  Greek  civil  izationT^andTaTThe  same  tim~e  a  center  of 
a  large  empire;  and  more  than  the  cities  of  the  Hellenistic  world, 
it  becajb-ejthe  ruling  city  of  tiie  civilized  world. 

Now,  that  is  a  very  interesting  development  in  the  form 
of  city  life  at  Rome.   Rome  was  growing  chaotically,  as  Athens 
had  been,  with  the  center,  the  Forum  and  the  Capitol,  and  with  one 
"block  of  houses  grovdng  up  after  another.   "Without  any  system, 
only  according  to  the  topographical  features  of  the  city  of  Rome- 
It  is  the  same  growth  as,  for  example,  the  grov/th  of  most  of  the 
medieval  cities  and,  for  example,  tiie  growth  of  Paris  and  London. 
It  was  chaotic  and  without  system,  and  presented  very  fev/  opportu- 
nities for  comfortable  living  for  the  population  of  Rome.   If  you 
read  the  writers  of  the  Roman  Empire,  if  you  read  their  description 
of  the  city  of  Rome,  you  will  find  that  the  city  of  Rome  was 
really  very  uncomfortable,  dirty,  and  not  a  good  place  to  live  in. 
Of  course,  the  Republic  had  already  provided  Rome  with  one  of  the 
best  water  supplies  which  existed  in  the  ancient  world.   This  was 
comparatively  easy  to  do  because  the  neighborhood  of  Rome  has  very 
good  water;  and  nowadays  modern  Rome  is  very  rich  in  good  water 
because  about  three-fourths  of  the  aqueducts  built  for  the  Roman 
Empire  are  still  used.   Almost  no  new  aqueducts  have  been  built  by 
the  popes  and  by  Italian  kings.   They  almost  alv/ays  rebuilt 
the  ancient  aqueducts  of  the  Romans,  and  rebuilt  them  only  partly, 
and  there  are  some  still  that  are  cut  of  use.   Rome  has  alv/ays  been 
one  of  the  richest  cities  in  water  in  the  European  world.   But 
except  for  the  water  very  little  v/as  done  for  the  city  of  Rome, 
from  the  point  of  view  of  municipal  organization,  during  the 
tijne  of  the  Republic.  /\^<-c^=^ 

Now  the  reason  for  it  was  the  speculation  of  the  Roman 
capilalists-   Rome  was  a  center  of  the  econom-ic  and  political  life 
of  the  world.  No  wonder,  then,  that  capitalism  was  cuickly 
developing  in  Rome,  and  one  of  the  most  successful  speculations 
was  that  in  the  city  land  of  Rome  and  in  buildings,  larij;e  buildings, 
of  the  type  of  your  skyscrapers.   This  was  caused  mostly  by  the 
fSct  which  I  already  emphasized  in  speaking  of  the  Hellenistic 
cities.   The  transportation  conditions  v/ere  very  bad  in  the  ancient 
world.   You  had  only  your  own  feet  to  get  about  on.   The  over- 
crov/ding  of  the  cities  was  a  certain  result,  so  that  in  the  best 
organized  cities  people  were  not  allowed  to  drive  in  a  carriage  or 
to  ride  on  horse  back.   Carriages  were  not  permitted  to  circulate 
in  the  city,  except  carts  for  bringing  in  food  stuffs,  which  were 
allowed  in  the  city  at  night.   Orders  prescribed  in  Hellenistic 
municipal  lav;s  were  similar  to  a  very  interesting  municipal  law  . 
published  by  Julius  Caesar  -  Lex  Julia  Municipalis.   This  law  we 
can  still  read.  TlT^sTiows  many  parailels  to  corresponding  lav/s 
which  we  know  from  Alexandria  and  Pergam\im,  the  first  a  new  dis- 
covery, a  roll  of  papyrus,  bought  by  the  Germans  in  Egypt.   In 
the  descriptions  of  the  municipal  law  of  Pergamum  Vv-e  find  orders 
saying  hov/  to  build  the  city  as  such,  how  to  manage  the  streets, 

-  51  - 


how  to  keep  them  clean.  Everything  is  prescribed  in  this  law  of 
Pergamiim,  and  it  is  just  the  same  in  the  lav;  of  Alexandria.  "We 
suppose  that  such  lav/s  existed  for  every  city  of  the  ancient 
Hellenistic  world,  and  just  such  a  lav/  was  published  by  Julius 
Caesar  and  voted  by  the  popular  assembly  of  Rome,  not  only  for 
Rone,  but  for  all  the  cities  of  Italy.   This  law  dealt  exclusively 
with  municipal  matters.  It  tries  to  remedy  all  the  evils  which 
existed  in  the  city  of  Rome,  and  one  of  tlie  paragraphs  dealt  with 
the  circulation  of  people  in  Rome.   You  could  circulate  only  on 
foot. 

The  most  important  place  in  the  city  of  Rome  was  the  Forum 
vath  its  temples,  public  buildings,  large  markets,  rich  shops, 
its  exchange  houses  so  to  speak,  the  bourse  if  we  use  the  French 
v/ord,  v/here  all  the  transactions  were  carried  out,  and  very 
important  transactions  they  v;ere,  indeed.  All  were  concentrated 
in  one  place  and  everybody  tried  to  live  as  near  as  possible  to 
the  center  of  business,  political  and  religious  life,  and  of 
course  all  the  wards  near  the  center  were  occupied.   At  the  same 
time  the  capitalists  bou^t  for  enormous  sums  large  places  for 
building  their  palaces,  so  that  a  good  piece  of  land  was  taken 
out  of  use  for  the  common  people  for  the  use  of  the  capitalists. 
So  in  the  time  of  the  Republic  the  hill  of  the  Palatine,  which_ 
v/as  just  near  the  Forum  and  accordingly  in  the  center  of  the  city, 
v/as  entirely  occupied  by  houses  built  by  Roman  ca.pitalists .  Here 
lived,  for  example,  Cicero  and  many  great  persons  of  the  same  type. 
That  means,  you  understand,  that  in  the  rest  of  the  city  there  was 
an  overcrov/ding  by  the  enormous  population  attracted  to  the  center 
of  the  city,  and  this  gave  rise  to  speculation.   The  matter  is 
explained  in  an  old  but  very  good  book  of  one  of  the  best  historians 
of  the  ancient  v;orld,  Robert  Ptthlmann,  v;ho  v/as  a  professor  of 
ancient  history  in  Munich.   He  wrote  a  book  Die  Uberbevttlkerung  der 
antiken  St^dte,  (The  Overpopulation  of  the  Ancient  Cities) . It 
gives  a  very  interesting  picture,  v/hich  should  be  nov/  completed  in 
-  the  light  of  the  nev;  discoveries  and  in  the  light  of  parallels 
existing  between  Rome  and  the  Hellenistic  capitals.  TThen  PShlman 
v/rote  in  the  70 's  of  the  last  century,  not  much  v/as  knov/n  about  • 
the  Hellenistic  capitals,  but  from  the  economic  and  social  point 
of  viev/  it  is  a  very  interesting  and  a  very  good  study. 

As  I  ha.ve  already  pointed  out,  this  situation  led  to 
speculation.   Speculators,  large  capitalists,  -  for  example, ^the 
famous  Crassus,  a  member  of  the  triumvirate  v/ith  Caesar  and  Pompey,- 
v/ould  buy  large  parcels  of  land,  would  build  one  enormous  sky- 
scraper after  another.   I  speak  of  skyscrapers,  and  I  shall  insist 
on  calling  them  so,  because  from  the  point  of  viev/  of  the  Roms.n 
technique,  so  far  as  it  was  possible  to  build  v/ithout  steam  engines 
and  electricity,  it  was  just  the  most  that  could  be  achieved  in 
building  houses.   Houses  of  six  stories  were  quite  comir.on  in  Rome. 
This  does  not  mean  the  same  thing  as  in  flat  cities,  because  Rome 
was  situated  on  "seven  hills,"  as  you  know,  so  that  sometimes  the 
upper  part  of  the  house  whs  two  stories  and  the  lower  part  of  the 
house  was  six  stories  high.   Such  houses  of  many  stories  are 

-52- 


descri"bed  by  many  ancient  v/riters,  and  catastrophes  happened  very 
often.   These  catastrophes  v/ere  caused  by  inundations  of  the  Tiber 
V7hich  still  overflows  Rome  very  often  in  the  winter  and  spring. 
Now,  of  course,  it  does  harm  to  the  lov/er  part  of  the  city  only, 
but  in  ancient  times,  v/hen  the  course  of  the  Tiber  was  not  yet 
regulated,  the  floods  of  the  Tiber  were  a  great  danger,  and 
especially  so  because  the  houses  were  very  badly  built.   Just  from 
the  point  of  view  of  speculation  they  were  built  as  cheaply  as 
possible,  and  of  as  bad  material  as  was  possible  for  the  Romans. 
Although  they  built  brick  houses,  these  were  as  cheap  as  possible 
and  v;ithout  deep  foundations.   So  it  happened  very  often  that 
during  the  flood  many  houses  collapsed,  v;ith  all  the  people  in 
them.   And  it  happened  very  often,  too,  that  fires  broke  out.  You 
all  knov/  about  the  fire  in  the  tine  of  Nero,  who  v/as  accused  of 
having  kindled  it,  -  Hero  then  accused  the  Christians.   I  do  not 
know  vrho  v/as  guilty.  Probably  neither  Kero  nor  the  Christians.  _ 
Fires  were  frequent  in  Rome.   Such  was  the  city  of  Rone  -  chaotic 
in  its  growth,  overcrov/ded  and  concentrated  on  a  small  strip  of 
land,  not  organized  except  for  the  central  parts  of  tJae  city,  and 
even  the  central  parts  of  the  city  were  entirely  dependent  upon 
the  liberal  gifts  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Rome. 

Nov/,  you  know  that  later  on,  because  of  the  civil  and  of 
the  social  wars,  Rome  was  transformed  into  a  kind  of  Hellenistic 
monarchy  and  became  the  capital  of  a  large  state.  The  activity 
of  the  emporers  in  transforming  Rome  into  a  Hellenistic  capital, 
in  rebuilding  Rome  on  nev;  lines,  in  transforming  Athens  into 
Alexandria,  is  remarkable  indeed.  Augustus  entirely  ^hanged  the 
aspects  of  the  central  parts  of  the  city  of  Rome.  He  built  it  on 
new  lines  v/ith  beautiful  buildings,  buying  up  very  many  houses. 
His  successors  bought  one  block  of  houses  after  another  and  built 
•^ew_ajid  beautiful  buildings.   But  v.liat  is  interesting  is  the  fact 
that  the  result  was  an  entirely  new  city  of  the  type  which  is 
characteristic  of  the  Hellenistic  cities  of  the  Greek  worldi  that 
is,  a  Greek  city  v/ith  all  the  parts  necessary  for  a  Greek  city. 
You  remember  that  the  Hellenistic  capital  was  a  combination  of 
buildings  necessary  for  the  political,  social,  economic  and 
religious  life  of  the  population,  with  a  residence,  the  palace  of 
the  ruling  man.   After  the  civil  wars  Rome  also  got  her  master, 
her  ruling  man:  princeps  of  emperor,  as  you  like.   Therefore, 
along  with  an  embellished  city  with  improved  hygienic  conditions 
intended  to  serve  the  needs  of  the  population  a  large  part  of  the 
city  v;as  covered  by  the  large  residence  of  the  Emperor,  occupying 
an  entire  hill  of  the  city  of  Rome,  the  Palatine.   So  that  the 
Palatine,  in  Latin  palatium,  became  the  name  for  palaces  in  all 
languages,  except  in  Russia  and  the  Slavic  countries.   In  the 
Slavonic  languages  it  is  different;  the  nsjue  for  the  palace  is  _ 
dvorets.   My  parallel  with  Moscow  as  the  last  center  of  the  oriental 
world  is  here  complete.  Because  dvorets  means  "the  court,"  i.e., 
the  court  of  an  oriental  king.   However,  there  was  one  -  and  a 
very  interesting  -  difference  between  the  cities  of  the  Greek 
world  and  the  city  of  Rome;  even  between  the  capitals  of  the 

-53- 


Hellenistic  monarchies  and  the  city  of  Rome.   The  general  type  of 
the  Greek  cities  and  of  Roincji  was  almost  the  same,  the  leading 
temple  on  the  Capitol,  the  rrxiricet  place  and  the  center  of  public 
life  -  the  Forum;  a  beautiful  nouse  for  the  senate,  large  houses 
for  shows,  theatres,  amphitheatres.  But  there  was  one  diiference. 
You  rememher  that  in  Pf.rgarLnim,  in  Alexardria,  even  in  the  small 
cities  like  Delos,  along  -with  the  tuildjngs  for  the  public  liie 
an  enormous  part  was  iDlayed  by  the  buildii-^gs  for  the  eaucation 
of  young  people.  Large  buildings  like  cur  universities  you  find  m 
a2inost  all  Hellenistic  cities.  But  in  Rome  ar?d  the  cities  of  tue 
Roman  Empire  they  disappeared  and  their  place  was  taken  by  public 
baths,  not  only  for  sv/.iiiming  and  bathing  purposes,  not  only  for 
the  health  of  the  body,  but  for  other  purposes  also.   The  iirst 
thing  that  impresses  you  in  Rome  is  the  enorr.ious  ci  ze  of  the  ruins 
of  the  bath-   It  is  only  the  ruins  which  exist.  Take  for  eicample 
the  baths  of  Caracalla  and  Diocletian.   The  place  which  was 
occupied  first  by  this  bath  of  Diocletian  is  now  occupied  by 
one  part  of  the  building  of  the  central  railway  station  of 
Rome,  by  a  large  public  place  v/ith  a  wonderful  modern  fountain, 
by  many  houses  and  shops,  by  the  largest  museum  of  aritiquities  m 
Rome  built  into  the  ruins  of  the  bath,  and  by  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  churches  of  Rome  rebuilt  by  Michael  Angelo,  which  had 
been  one  of  the  rooms  of  the  bath.  All  this  formed  fornerly  only 
one  large  building.   The  therr.ae  of  Diocletian  is  an  example  of 
what  were  the  other  therr.?-8  built  for  the  population  of  Rome.  They 
were  not  only  places  for  a  sv;im  or  a  "bath.   The  Romans  came  to 
these  pla.ces  just  as  vie   come  to  clubs.   As  you  come  to  a  fraternity 
or  to  your  clubs,  so  the  population  of  Rome  v;ent  to  these  baths. 
They  were  furnislied  v/ith  restaurants,  libraj'ies,  reading  rooms, 
open  places  for  sports,  etc.  You  could  find  everything  here  in  tlie 
enormous  baths.   These  baths  replaced  the  educational  institutions 
of  the  Hellenistic  cities.   The  schools  in  Rome  as  late  as  the 
second  century  A.D.  were  entirely  a  private  affair  and  were  never 
cared  for  by  the  government.   This  is  just  the  opposite  of  the  rules 
prevailing  in  the  Hellenistic  cities. 

Such  was  Rome!  You  see  already  that  the  conditions  were 
almost  the  same  as  the  conditions  in  sorae  of  the  modern  cities. 
And  the  best  parallel  I  know  is,  of  course,  Paris.   An  ancient 
city  groY.ang  up  from  a  tribal  center,  growing  up  gradually, 
•  •   -  -     "  ■      -   ■  -  -    ^^  I 

t 
iinovy  11  IX,  nas  not  sxiii  a  oix  oi  "cms  importance.   xnis 
chaotically  growing  city  with  v/onderful  buildings  like  the  palace 
of  the  kings,  the  market  place  near  the  Bastille,  has  just  the 
same  features  as  Rome  before  the  Empire.   But  Paris,  as  you  know, 
has  had  its  Empire,  too.   Under  ITapoleon  III  it  v/as  entirely  re- 
built, "Haussmannized,"  as  they  say.   It  is  an  odd,  but  a  good 
word-  "What  Napoleon  and  Haussmann  did  for  Paris  v/ith  the  wonderful 
streets,  parks,  and  boulevards,  was  done  for  Rome  by  Augustus-  Of 
course,  Napoleon  took  only  the  paths  devised  to  him  by  the  Roman 
emperors-   Napoleon  III  was  dealing  only  with  something  prepared 

-54- 


"by  Hapoleon  I.   He  only  Haussmannized  Paris-   In  Rome  you  will 
see  hoY7  thorough  was  the  v/ori:  of  rebuilding.   Such  was  the  city 
of  Rome'. 

No-.v,  the  Roman  Enapire  existed  for  centuries  and  centuries, 
and  I  should  say  it  was  never  destroyed.   It  never  ceased  to  exist. 
Many  imagine,  of  course,  that  the  barbarians  destroyed  the  Roman 
Empire,  but  that  was  never  a  fact,  Rome  was  never  destroyed.  Rome 
continued  to  exist.  Of  course,  it  was  after  a  time  no  longer 
the  political  center  of  the  -world,  but  it  was  still  the  leading 
spiritual  center,  and  the  pope  was  just  the  successor  of  the  Roman 
emperors.   And,  of  course,  from  the  political  point  of  viev;  the 
idea  of  a  sacred  empire  shifted  to  France,  Spain,  etc.,  but  it 
never  died.  And  about  the  same  time,  in  the  second  capital  of  the 
Roman  world,  Byzantium,  the  name  of  Rome  existed  and  the  population 
of  the  Byzantine  Empire  called  themselves  Romans;  and  so  you  see 
the  whole  organization  of  the  Rpman  Empire  existed  as  long  as  the 
15th  century.   So  the  Roman  Empire  existed  for  centuries  and 
centuries.  The  most  brilliant  time  of  the  Roman  Erapirc  was  the 
first  three  centuries,  especially  the  first  and  second  A.D.   The 
most  brilliant  work  of  the  Romans  v/as  done  during  these  first  two 
centuries. 

From  the  point  of  view  v/hich  interests  us  v/hat  v/as  done 
by  Rome  as  an  empire  ruled  by  one  man  v;ho  was  gradually  transformed 
from  ^  leader  of  the  citizens  of  Rome  to  a  tyrant  whose  power  y/as 
based  on  military  force  and  then  into  a  real  monpjrch  of  the  oriental 
type?  T,lhat  was  done  by  these  men  from  the  point  of  view  which 
interests  us?  I  should  say  they  did  just  the  same  as  the  Hellenis- 
tic raonarchs  before.  :them.   They  tried  to  transform  large  tracts  of 
imperial  land  into  territories  of  cities,  and  the  greatest  work  Dn 
this  respect  was  done  by  them  in  the  western  provinces.   The 
eastern  provinces  were  already  partly  transformed  into  large 
territories  of  cities,  and  were  already  populated  by  cities  built 
one  after  another  by  the  Hellenistic  rulers  in  Asia  Minor,  in  Syria, 
in  central  Asia,  even  in  Egypt.   And  Greece  v;as ,  of  course,  a  land 
of  cities  from  time  immemorial.   Italy  was  also  a  land  of  cities. 
Almost  no  territories  which  did  not  belong  to  the  cities  existed 
in  Italy;  but  the  rest  of  the  western  world  still  lived  in 
conditions  v;hich  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  Greek  city  state.  Tribal 
life  was  the  leading  life  in  western  Europe  and  remained  the 
leading  life  in  Germany  and  in  the  Slavonic  world.  But  the  Celtic 
world  and  the  Thracian  v/orld  -  France,  Spain,  England,  ?-nd  what 
was  before  the  war  Austria,  v/ere  transformed  by  the  Romrjis  on  the 
sane  lines  that  were  followed  by  the  Hellenistic  monarchs  for  the 
Orient.   The  western  provinces  became  lands  of  cities  as  well. 
Take,  for  example,  Africa,  v;here  only  a  fev;  Phoenician  cities 
exited  on  the  shores  before  the  Roman  dominion.   After  one  century 
of  the  Roman  rule  in  Africa  it  was  covered  with  scores,  hundreds  of 
Roman  cities,  and  the  type  of  these  cities  v/as  the  same  as  that  of 
the  Italian  and  Greek  cities.   It  offered  to  the  inhabitants  the 
most  comfortable  and  hygienic  life.   The  scientific  devices  oi 

-55- 


planning  the  cities,  of  building  public  and  private  buildings 
were  carried  out  in  all  the  cities. 

Nov/,  let  me  descri'be  to  you  the  main  lines  on  v/hich  this 
work  of  implanting  the  Roman  city  in  Western  Europe  was  done. 
The  most  important  carriers  of  city  life  were  the  soldiers,  the 
Roman  legions.   First  they  built  camps.   Nov;  the  camp  was  the 
center  of  life  for  the  soldiers  only,  but  the  soldiers,  as  soon 
as  the  camps  became  permanent  fortifications  to  protect  the 
frontier,  attracted  to  the  camp  some  shopkeepers,  artisans,  etc. 
etc.,  who  settled  down  near  the  camp.   Some  of  the  soldiers  married 
or  took  concubines  and  built  for  them  houses  in  the  neighborhood. 
In  this  way  a  city  was  growing  un   around  the  camp,  the  so-called 
"canabac.'.'  They  grew  richer  and' richer,  larger  and  larger.   They 
needed  a  territory  to  support  their  population.   The  Roman  emperors 
granted  them  the  territory  and  gradually  transformed  them  into  real 
cities,  having  all  the  rights  of  a  city,  i.e.,  their  own  magis- 
trates, their  own  finances,  self-government,  etc,  like  the 
different  types   of  the  Italian  cities. 

The  second  type  was  that  of  a  city  formed  as  the  administrative 
and  economic  center  of  the  tribes  in  Gaul  and  in  Spain.   These 
tribsB  had  ali/ays  some  refuges  and  some  market  places  in  a  well 
protected  spot.   These  refuges  were  situated  (and  there  are  many 
exca.-ated  by  the  French)  almost  always  en  tops  of  hills  and  raoun- 
taiv.s.   Now  the  Roman  emperors  created  such  a  life  that  peace 
reigned  all  over  the  provinces  of  western  Europe.   The  legions  on 
the  frontier,  building  up  cities,  protected  by  this  civilized  zone 
the  lands  of  Prance  and  Spain  against  attacks  from  the  outside. 
The  same  was  done  in  Britain  in  building  the  well-known  armed 
frontier,  the  British  Wall.   So  under  the  protection  of  the  troops, 
of  course,  there  was  no  need  any  more  to  climb  a  steep  hill  to 
get  your  shopping  done,  and  there  was  no  more  reason  to  look  for 
a  refuge,  because  life  v/as  safe.   So  these  eagle  nests  came  down 
to  the  plain,  and  regular  cities  were  built  under  the  incentive 
given  by  the  Roman  government,  which  insisted  on  having  one  or  \ 
more  political  centers  for  each  tribe  or  nation-   One  of  the 
cities  v/as  Paris,  the  center  of  the  tribe  of  Parisii,  and  most  of 
the  names  of  the  leading  cities  in  Prance  are  names  of  tribes.  As 
you  see,  gradually  the  tribes  got  a  political  center,  and  this 
center  grew  into  a  large  and  civilized  well  built  city  under  the    I 
protection  and  with  the  help  of  the  Roman  emperors  and  the  Roman 
governments.   In  this  way  Spain  and  Prance  and  Britain  also  became 
territories  of  towns,  also  territories  of  cities.   Of  course,  the 
territories  were  very  large  indeed,  because  the  tribes  had  very 
large  territories,  so  that  they  formed  a  kind  of  little  state. 
Another  type  of  policy  was  assumed  by  the  Romans  in  Africa,       \ 
according  to  the  circumstances  which  prevailed  in  this  land-   I    \ 
have  spoken  of  this  already.   This  land  of  prairies  and  of  nomadic 
shepherds,  still  now  to  a  great  extent  a  land  of  the  same  type,  was, 
by  the  constant  efforts  of  the  Romans,  transformed  into  a  flourish- 
ing conglomerate  of  cities.   I  will  illustrate  all  that  I  have  said 

-56- 


about  these  two  types  of  cities  next  time.   In  v;estern  Europe  and 
in  Africa  I  v/ill  show  you  graphicallj''  what  I  mean  by  all  this 
inplantation  of  city  life  in  the  countries  which  did  not  knov/ 
anything  about  cities. 

Before  finishing  my  subject  I  will  drav/  some  coriclusions. 
Of  course,  my  characterization  of  the  economic  and  social  conditions 
connected  v;ith  the  cities  in  the  ancient  v;orld  gave  you  an  im-    / 
pression  -  and  a  right  one,  which  I  tried  to  produce,  -  that  the 
ancient  civilization  and  the  ancient  state  were  mostly  city 
civilization  and  city  state.   Such  is  the  aspect,  certainly,  of 
the  Greek  states,  and,  no  doubt,  of  the  Italian,  of  the  Roman 
state.  But  you  must  not  forget  th„t  that  was  only  the  upper  life. 
That  beneath,  you  have  another  type  of  life,  v/hich  was  not  interest- 
ing for  the  ancient  writers,  which  v/as  just  the  basis,  the 
foundation  of  the  economic  and  social  life,  but  v/as  at  the  same 
time  a  type  of  life  for  v/hich  nobody  cared,  because  everybody  cared 
for  the  cities.  Nobody  cared  for  the  country  population  on  which 
the  cities  grev;  up  and  which  formed,  so  to  speak,  the  ruler  of 
city  life.  Now,  part  of  these  lands  were  populated  by  peasants, 
part  by  serfs  who  belonged  to  city  territories  and  formed  the 
foundation  of  Lhe  city  territories.  But  you  remember  that  the    \ 
oriental  countries,  large  as  they  were,  much  larger  than  Greece    \ 
and  Italy,  never  knew  a  real  city  life.   The  political  life,  the 
social  and  the  economic  life  of  the  oriental  countries  was  always 
based  on  the  main  rural  population,  on  the  population  of  the 
peasants,  and  the  expression  of  this  idea  that  the  peasants  formed 
just  the  center  and  the  main  foundation  of  the  state  was  the 
absolutistic  monarchy  of  the  oriental  life.   In  Greece  and  in 
Italy  the  city  territories,  the  leagues  of  cities  dominated  from 
the  very  beginning.   During  the  Hellenistic  and  the  Roman  period, 
cities  of  the  Greek  types  were  implanted  in  the  Oriental  lands.   It 
seemed  as  if  the  Orient  too  was  gradually  transformed  into  a  complex 
of  city- territories,  but  it  v/as  not  so.   The  cities  covered  perhaps 
one-hundredth  of  the  large  spaces  of  the  Orient,   As  before,  the 
Orient  remained  the  land  of  peasants  and  the  land  of  monarchs  when 
the  Roman  emperors  v;ere  gretted  by  the  Orient  aa  the  successors 
of  the  Assyrian,  Babylonian  and  Egyptian  kings. 

Uow,  in  the  'Z^est  you  have  almost  the  same  thing.  Hot  the    \ 
small  territories,  v;ith  cities  which  grev/  up  organically  out  of  _^\ 
the  territories,  as  in  Greece  and  Italy.   Nol  You  have  artificial 
cities  with  enormous  territories  populated  by  people  not  taken  in 
by  the  ancient  Greek  and  Roman  civilization,  people  who  remained 
just  the  same  peasants  and  serfs  that  they  were  before  the  Roman 
domination.   If  you  talce  the  whole  of  the  Roman  Erapire  you  will 
see  that  except  Greece  and  Italy  the  cities  form  the  upper  layer 
only;  but  they  are  very  talkative,  everybody  sees  them.   Peasants 
are  silent,  nobody  mentions  them,  except,  you  see,  en  passant; 
but  they  form  the  masses  of  the  population  and  they  see  that  the 
cities  are  exploiting  them,  living  at  their  expense.   And  this 
feeling  of  which  I  spoke,  the  feeling  of  a  kind  of  contrast  between 

-57- 


the  cities  and  the  country  v;as  growing,  as  time  passed,  in  the 
Ro-nan  Empire,  where  of  course  the  emperors  based  their  power  almost 
exclusively  on  the  city.   Nothing  explains  why  in  the  third  century 
comes  a  social  upheaval  that  almost  destroys  the  Roman  Empire. 
Scores  of  emperors  proclaimed  by  the  troops  fight  each  other  in  a 
political  hell  for  no  reason.   7*iy  was  it?  I  say  it  was  the  fight 
of  the  country  population,  which  formed  at  that  time  the  armies 
of  the  Roman  Ei-npire,  against  the  cities.   That  was  the  fight  of 
the  country  population  against  the  city  populati  on.   The  fight  of 
the  peasants  against  the  men  of  the  city  who  exploited  them  and 
lived  at  their  expense.  And   if  the  Roman  Empire  in  the  third  and  fourth 
century  under  Diocletian  and  Constantine  was  transformed  again  into 
an  oriental  empire  "built  upon  the  sane  foundations  as  the  ancient 
Oriental  empires,  it  was  because  the  emperors  realized  this  state 
of  things  and  founded  their  pov;er  again  on  large  masses  of  the 
peasants,  degrading  the  city  population  to  the  level  of  the 
country  population,  making  out  of  them  the  same  servants  of  the 
state  as  the  peasants  always  were  in  the  Oriental  v/orld. 

Such  is  the  history  of  the  cities  in  the  ancient  world.   Of 
course,  this  is  only  a  brief  sketch.   It  requires  more  time  than 
is  at  my  disposal  to  give  a  good  idea  of  the  conditions,  but  I 
hope  you  will  retain  from  my  lectures  one  main  point:  How  important 
it  is  for  the  evolution  of  the  modern  world  to  know  the  development 
of  the  cities  in  the  ancient  world. 


-58- 


INSTITUTE  'FO'R   ?£SEARCK  IN  LAITD  ECOUOEICS 


URBAN  LAND  ECONOMICS 

Urban  Land  in  the  Middle  Ages 
by 

Mary  L.  Shine,  Ph.  D. 

Institute  for  Research 
in  Ls.nd  Economics. 


"UNDER  ALL,  THE  LAND" 


"My  own  conviction  has  long  been  that 
the  land  question  far  transcends  any  re- 
stricted field  of  economics  and  that  it 
is  fundamental  to  national  survival  and 
national  v/elfare.   It  is  truly  a  problem 
calling  for  statesiaanship  of  the  broad- 
est type."  -  Professor  Erank  A.  Fetter. 


TABLE   OF   COETEIITS 
URBAIT  LAM)    IN   TIS  MIDDLE  AGES 
by 
MARY  L.    SHIIIE 
Introduction. 

I.    Rise   of   the  medieval   towns. 

A.  Y.lien? 

B.  "V/hy? 
C   7;hat/? 

D.  How? 

E.  Importance  as  trading  units. 

F.  Population. 

IL  Land  selection. 

A.  Site. 

1.  C^ualifications  . 

2.  Possi"ble  sites. 

3.  Meaning  of  "advantages  for  trade." 

B.  Amount  of  land  selected. 

C.  Selection  of  land  inside  the  town. 

1 .  Publ i  c . 

2.  Private. 

m. Ownership  of  land. 
A.  Private. 


1.    Original. 

2.  Burgage   tenure. 

3.   Pirina  bursii  . 

4.    Courts. 

5.   Explanations    of 

6.    Landed  property 

3. 

Public. 

c. 

Co  EX. ion. 

rise  of  burgage  tenure, 
qualification  for  citizenship. 


IV.  Land  Utilization. 

A.  Common  lands. 

B.  Private  lands. 

1.  Agriculture. 

2.  Residence. 

3.  Commerce  and  manufacture. 

C.  Public  lands. 

V.  Public  Services  and  Public  Utilities. 

A.  Street  paving. 

B.  Street  cleaning  -  sewerage. 

C.  Water  supply. 

1).    Street  lighting. 
E.    Police   protection, 
p.    Firs'  protection. 
G-.    Other  services. 

-60- 


VI-   Regulation  of  the  Use  of  Land. 
A.  Public  land. 
3.  Private  land. 

VII.  Taxation,  Land  Values,  Real  Estate  Business. 
A.  Taxation. 
B •  Land  Values . 
C.  Real  Estate  Business. 

Conclusion  -  Transition. 


•  61- 


UKBAIT  LAIID  liT  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


Introduction 


In  discussing  the  antagonism  "bet'-veen  city  and  country 
in  one  of  his  early  lectures.  Professor  Rostovtzeff  told  us  that, 
beginning  with  the  third  century  of  our  era,  country  began  to  over- 
v/helm  city.   The  Roman  cities  v;ere  already  declining  v/hen  the 
barbarian  hordes  swept  over  Europe,  inundating  the  Roman  provinces, 
which  have  been  described  as  conglomerations  of  cities,  with  a 
population  v;hich  had  not  reached  that  stage  of  civilization  which 
expresses  itself  in  city  life.   The  life  they  preferred  and  con- 
tinued to  maintain  v/as  a  country  life  v/ith  the  village  as  its  most 
concentrated  unit. 

However  they  were  not  maliciously  destructive  and  had  no 
desire  to  destroy  a  civilization  that  they  rather  admired  v/ithout 
wishing  to  adopt  it.   Cities  that  fought  their  advance  were  con- 
quered in  conflicts  that  were  destructive,  but  cities  that 
offered  no  resistance  were  allowed  to  continue  their  existence, 
and  the  ruins  found  in  them  to-day  are  often  the  result  of  later 
wars  between  factions  of  their  own  citizens  or  of  other  v/ars  in 
which  the  cities  took  part,  and  not  the  work  of  the  barbarian 
invasions  of  the  fourth,  fifth,  and  later  centuries. 

Some   of  these  surviving  Roman  cities  continued  an  unbroken 
city  life,  but  many  of  them  fell  into  more  or  less  decay.   There 
has  been  much  controversy  among  historians  as  to  whether  medieval 
cities  on  the  sites  of  old  Roman  towns  were  survivors  or  v/hether 
the  Roman  towns  had  died  and  had  been  born  anew  about  the  year  1000. 
The  lacl:  of  contemporary  accounts  of  the  towns  from  the  seventh 
to  the  eleventh  century  makes  the  question  one  that  cannot  be 
solved.--   Some  of  the  Italian  cities,  undoubtedly,  had  a  con- 
tinuous city  life.   Some  of  the  cities  of  Roman  Gaul  and  the 
Roman  cities  of  the  Rhine  continued  to  exist  as  cities^  among 
them'Paris,  Bordeaux,  Strassburg,  Cologne  and  Mayence,'^)  and  also 
some  of  the  towns  and  camps  of  Roman  Britain."^)   It  is  probable 
that  the  thing  v;hich  survived  in  these  places  was  the  independent 
economic  life,  and  that  their  pov/ers  of  municipal  self  governEient 
v/ere  swept  awa3?-,4)  f^y-   there  does  not  appear  to  have  been  a  sur- 
vival of  Roman  municipal  institutions  to  any  great  extent. 
Luchaire  feels  that  the  Roman  origin  of  the  municipal  institutions 
of  the  French  communes  has  not  been  proved  for  even  the  southern 
part  of  Prance  -  the  most  highly  Romanized  section.^) 

Many  of  the  old  Roman  cities  that  survived  declined  in 
importance,  in  population,  and  in  area;  and  when  they  emerge  in 


^•'  Achilla  Luchaire,  Communes  Prancajses  a  I'e-Qogue  des  Capetians 

■Directs  (Paris,  1911),  p.  11. 
2)  William  Cunningham,  T/estern  Civilization  (2  vols-,  Cambridge, 

1898-1900),  II,  58. 
2)  J.S.  Thorold  Rogers,  Six  Centuries  of  Work  and  Wages  (Fev? 

V   York,  1884), pp.  102-103. 
^'   Cunninghajn,  Western  Civilization,  II,  58. 
5)  Luchaire,  12,  13. 

-62- 


the  Middle  Ages  we   find  that  .a  small   portion   of   the  Roman   city 
has  been  walled  and  fortified  by  a  little  group  of  people  and  has 
■become  a  medieval   town  not   at  all   comparatle   in  importance,    in 
size,    or   in  population  \rith  the  Roman  city   that  had  "been   on   the 
spot   in  former   times.  6) 

I    -  Rise    of   the   medieval    tov'ns  . 

T/lien?     Our   first   records   of   the  medieval   tovnis  are   in  the 
eleventh   century.      Pirenne   says    that   the    first  mention   of 
burgesses    (or   townsmen)    in   the  Emx)ire  was   concerned  v/ith   the 
tov,-n   of  Huy   in  the  Bishopric   of  Liege   in  1065.'^)      In   the   tv/elfth 
century   the  boroughs,    or   towns,    lirst  began  to  have  an   independent 
municipal  history. 8) 

Y/hy?     v;hy  did  the   towns   appear  at  this    time?      It   is   probable  that 
the  grouping   together   of  people   in  one  place  had  begun  much 
earlier.      The  barbarians   of  the  earlier  centuries  were   no   longer 
barbarians,    and  civilization  was   developing   -   the  grov/th  of 
cities    is,    as  Professor  Rostovtzeff  has   shown,    a  necessary 
condition   of   civilization.      The  softening   of   the   rough  life   of 
the  barbarians,    the   rise   in   their  standards   of  living,    the 
demand   for   commodities,    brougjtit  about   a  need  for   tradfe^    and  the 
widening  of  acquaintance  with  commodities   for   consumption  that 
was    the    result  of   the  movement   of  people   about  Europe   and   toward 
the  East  during  the   Crusades,    gave  speed  to   the   development   of 

commerce   that  had  already  begun.      Cunningham  says,    " It  may 

be   impossible    to   say  viiether  trade   called  forth  a   town,    or 
whether   the   presence   of  a   town  gave   the   opportunity   for    trade,. ••• 
the    existence   of  a  town  and  the   existence    of   internal   trade  are 
inseparable;  vthe   progress    of  one  w^ould  stimulate   the    increase   cf 
the   otlier."^^ 

In   order   to  understand   the   rise   of   a  town  it  is   necessary  to 
understand   the    system  of  land   tenure  which  prevailed   in   the  Middle 
.Ages.      TOien   the  barbarian   conquerors   settled  down,    the   land   in 
these   places  was   taken   into   possession,    and  parcelled   out   in 
tracts    of  various   sizes   among   the  chief  men  on   condition   that  they 
return  far    it   certain  military  service.      This  military   service,    in 
the   case   of   a  great   noble  possessed  of   one   or  more  large   tracts   of 
land,    was   not  his  personal    service   alone,    but   the   service   of   so 
many  knights   fully  equipped,    the   nuraber  being  proportioned  to 
the   amount   of   land  held.      The   lords  managed  this     by   letting  out 
portions    of   the   land  they  held  to    others  with   the   agreement   that 


^^   y;.J.   Ashley,    Surveys  Historic   and  Economic    (London,    1900) 
p.    179   (abstracting  Plach,    Qrig;ines   de   I'ancienne  France)  . 

7)  Pirenne,   Pi nan t,    p.    18,    quoted  in  Green,    Town  Life,    I,    II. 

8)  Mrs.    iT.R.    Green,    Tov/n  Life    in  the  Fifteenth  Century    (2   vols 

¥ew  York,    1894)    I,    11. 
^'    v^unningham,   Y/estern  Civilization,    II,    56,    57. 


-62- 


these   sub-tenants   or  sub-vassals   should  provide  a   certain  number 
of  men   for   tlie  military  force  required  of  the   great  noble   or 
tenant    in   chief.      The   sub- tenants   sometimes   repeated  this    process. 
This  whole  systeia  ox    Is.nd  tenure  77as   called  the  feudal  sys  ^em. 
None   of  these  men  worked  the   land  they  held.      The  work  was   done 
by  the   x)easants,  who  were   aleo   allotted  strips   of  land  for   their 
own  use*    in  retiarn  for  which  they  worked  so  many  days  a  weeic  on 
the  part   of   the   land  the   feudal  holder  kept  for  himself   -   giving 
additional    days'    work  at   certain   seasons   and  giving   other 
occasional   services.      This   system  of   cultivation  of   the    land  is 
called   the  manorial  system  and  is   sharply  distinguished  by  the 
modern  historians   from  the   system   of  land  tenure   described  above. 
The   feudal  system  was   a  system  ol    land  tenure;    the  manorial  system 
v.'as  a  system  of  land  cultivation-. 

The   cultivators   of   the   soil  lived  in  villages   -   they  had _ 
no   farms,   but  were  assigned  from  time   to    time   certain  strips   in 
the  common  arable   fields,    and  had  the    right    to  pasture   certain 
animals   in  the   common  pasture,    to   cut  wood  in  the   common  forest, 
and  other  privileges. 

C.   Vi/hat?     Living   in  villages   that  prospered  and  developed,    they 

might    in   time   desire   to   become  a  town.      Gibbins    says    (Industry  ^n 
England)    that   a   town  was   in  itself  a  manor  or  group   of  manors 
wh- re  men   lived  closer   together   than  elsevAiere.-l-O  J     But  when  we 
speak   of  the    town  we  usually  mean  more  than  this   -     vre  mean  the 
community  wi ta    its  privileges,    its  membership,    its   self  dependence, 
and  self   control,    that   constituted  the  medieval  borough   or 
comraune.      Luchaire  says    that   the   commune  was  born  because   of  the 
need  of   the   inhabitants   of   the    town  for   the   substitution  of  a 
limited  and  regulated  exploitation  for   the   arbitrary  exploitation 
of  which  they  had  been  the   victims.!!-)      Tov/ns   were  marked  off   from 
villages   by  certain  characteristics   -   they  were  fortified   - 
usually  by  a  wall  and  ditch;      they  were   collectively   instead  of 
individually   responsible  for   the  payments   due   to   the   feudal  lord 
and  the   taxes    due   to   the  king;    and,    therefore,    the   officials   of 
the  lord  had  no   reason   to    invade  the    town,   which   settled  its    own 
affairs   in   its    own  courts  and  v;as  free  from  the   duty  of   attending 
the  court   of  the.  feudal   lord,^^)   q^   ^^  England   the  hundred  and 
county   courts,-'-^'    for   r.uitc    concerning  matters  v/ithin   the    town. 


■"-^j   K.de  B.    Gibbins,    Industry   in  England    (New  York,    1897),    p.    86. 

!!)    Luchaire,    14. 

12)   \Yilliam  Cunningham,    Outlines   of  English  Industrial  History 

(New  York,    189fa) ,    p.    46;    Sir  Frederick  Pollock  and  Frederick 
¥.    Maitland,   History  of  English  Law   (2  vols.,    Cambridge, 
,       1895),    I,    627. 

!'^>   Edward  Potts  Cheyney,    Industrial  and   Social  History  of  Engl  ana 
(New  York,    1910 J .    pp.    57,    58. 

-64- 


D.  Hov:?     Luchaire  believes    that   these  privileges  were  at  first 
wrested  from  the  lords  "by   insurrections,    "but  "by  the    twelfth 
century   the  hostility   of   the   lords  had  ceased  and   the   enfranchise-r 
ment  was  achieved  Vy  purchase   -   a  goodly  sum  "being  paid   for   it. 
The  heavy  expenditures   of  the   crusading  lords   in  the   twelfth  and 
thirteenth  centuries    often   led  them,  to   secure    funds    in   this  way 
and  hastened  the   grov;th  of   the  towns.      The  kings   found  that  in 
their  conflicts  v/ith   unruly  vassals   the  tov/ns    could  be  played  off 
against  the  nobles,   and  the   favor    of   the   king  v/as  a   great  factor 
in  the    enfranchisement  of  towns,  ■'■^) 

E.  Importance  as   trading  units .     English   tov/ns   secured  from  the 
kings   exemption  from  tolls    throughout   the   king's    domain,  and  the 
upholding  of  this   right   to  be    exempt   from  tolls  was    one    of   the 
chief   functions   of   the   gild  merchant,   which   in  the   early  days 
included  practically  all  the   citizens   and   tlirough  its   collective 
poY/er  secured  to   each  individual  merchant  the    rights   that  had 
been  given.      Retaliation  was  a  most  powerful  v/eapon   for  this 
purpose   -   if   a  town,   A,    denied   to   the   merchants   of  another   town, 
B,    the   exemptions   that  belonged  to    them,   merchants   of  B    that  came 
within   the   clutches   of  A  would  be  punished  whether   or  not    they 
had  any  responsibility  for   the    offense. 

Towns    in  the  Middle  Ages   had  relations  with  each  other 
similar   to    the   international  relations    of    to-day  -  a  person 
from  another   town  viiae  a   foreigner.      International   trade  as  we 
know  it  did  not  exist   -   one  did  not  think  of  German  trade  with 
England,    but   of   the  trade   of  Ltibeck,    let  us   say,   with  London   or 
Bristol   -   the    tov;n  v;as   the   unit. 

F.   Population.      The  population  of    the  English   town  was  fairly 

homogeneous   -  merchants,    artisans,    people  who  had  been   serfs   of 
the  nobles,   but  who   now  v;ere   free  from  any  service  and  whopaid 
collectively,    not  individually,   what  was  due  to    the   noble  in 
money.      In  France   clergy  and  nobles    often   resided  in   the   tovms ^ 
and  constituted  a  non-citizen  class,    exempt   from  the   responsibili- 
ties  of   citir.ens   and  taking  no  part   in  the    citizen  life.    °1      In 
Italy  nobles   lived  in   the    towns  and  took  active  part   in   their 
affairs,    and  to   this    circumstance  much   of  the   turbulence   of  the 
Italian  city  life   in  medieval   times  was   due.-'-' J      On   the    continent 
of  Europe  a  nobility  of  wealth  rose   among  the   merchant   class 
also,    which   often  controlled  the   town  in  an  oligarchial 


government .^SJ 


II   -  Land  Selection 


A.    Site. 

1.   ';,ualifi cations,     '//hen   the  new  medieval   towns  began   to 

a-o-p'ear,    there  were   two   chief  principles   that   dete-rnined  the    choice 


14)   Luchaire,    15,    IS. 

L5)    Cunningham,   Y/estern  Civilization,    II,    91,    92. 

16)  Luchaire,    61,    62.  ^m1^^    r<v.   no- 

17)  Lynn  Thorndyke,   History  of  Medieval  Europe    IBoston,    1J17}    lh.xa 

18)  Cunningham,   Western  Civilizatj.on,    II,    92. 

-65- 


of  site,  l)  opportunity  for  trade,  2)  protection.  '     'While  the 
second  considerr.tion  v/as  a  necessary  condition  of  the  existence 
of  any  town,  in  those  days  when  peace  and  order  were  far  from 
being  a  matter  of  course,  protected  places  did  not  always  "become 
tov/ns.   Of  the  places  where  protection  was  possible,  only  those 
which  also  offered  opportunities  for  trade  became  the  sites  of 
towns. 20)  irirenne  says,  "tovms  are  the  work  of  the  merchants." 

Possible  sites .  There  v/ere  several  places  that  offered  these 
qualifications.   Pirst  there  were  the  surviving  Roman  cities  or 
camps,  some  of  v/hich  had  had  a  continuous  municipal  life  through 
all  the  intervening  period.  Examples  on  the  continent  of  Europe 
were  Cologne,  Mayence ,  Strassburj,  Paris,  Bordeau-K^^)  and  a  number 
of  Italian  cities,  and  in  England,  London,  York,  Chester,  Col-. 
Chester,  Exeter,  Lincoln,  Bath,  Gloucester  and  Cirencester.'^'^  ^ 

In  these  places  the  habits  of  economic  independence  had 
never  disappeared,  even  when  municipal  self-government  had  been 
swept  away;  and  these  emerge  again  as  medieval  cities. -^-^ J  Second, 
there  were  the  ruined  remains  of  the  old  Roman  cities  and  camps. 
The  inhabitants  of  these  places  had  sometimes  gathered  together 
more  closely,  and  had  fortified  small  portions  of  the  old  city 
area.   This  is  called  the  castrum  or  ci vitas  in  early  medieval 
documents.   Outside  of  this  grew  up,  in  the  eleventh  century,  one 
01  more  boroughs.   These  united  v/ith  the  fragment  of  the  old  city 
and  forraed  by  the  union  a  new  city  -  medieval  -  not  a  descendent 
of  the  ancient  city. 24) 

A  third  site  that  offered  both  protection  and  opportunity 
for  trade  was  the  monastery.  Towns  often  grew  up  here  due  to 
the  presence  of  the  negotiators  or  business  agents  of  the  monas- 
teries.  These  v/ere  not  dependents  of  the  raonasteri  es ,  but  had 
to  buy  their  own  supplies,  and  thus  provided  an  opportunity  for 
trade  that  drew  population  to  the  place.   The  population  was  also 
increased  by  those  who  sought  the  protection  of  the  monastery,  by 
■pilgrims  who  resorted  to  it,  by  alien  merchants  who  visited  it, 
by  artisans  v/ho  served  it  and  served  the  town-25)   xhe  v/ord 
"saint"  as  part  of  the  name  of  a  French  town  often  indicates 
monastery  origin,  and  English  examples  of  towns  growing  up  near 
monasteries  are  Oxford,  Abmgdom,  Reading,  St.  Albans,  Coventry, 
Durham  ^^'   and  man^--  others. 


19)  Olive  Lav.  History  o~Commer.c_e_  (2?ew  York.  1910 )  p..  42; 

Pierre  Clerget,  "Urbanism"  in  Annual  Report,  1912, 
Smithsonian  Institute  (Washington,  1913),  p.  658. 

20)  Ashley,  Surveys,  196  (quoting  Pirenne);  Cunningham,  Western 

Civilization,  II,  62.  (quoting  Plach  and  Pirenne). 

21)  Cunningham,  Western  Civilizati  on,  II,  58- 

22)  Frances  Pierrepont  Barnard,  Editor,  Companion  to  Engl i sh 

History  (Oxford,  1902),  pp.  188ff. 

23)  Cunningham,  Western  Civilization,  II,  59. 

24)  Ashley,  Surveys ,  179  (abstracting  Flach,  Origines,  etc.) 

25)  Cunningham,  Y/estern  Civilization,  II,  58. 

26)  Rogers,  V/ork  and  Wages  ,  103- 

-66- 


The  fourth  kind  of  a  site  was  the  neighborhood  of  a  castle. 
This  did  not  offer  as  great  opportunities  for  trade  as  the  mon- 
astery, iDut  it  had  the  advantage  over  the  latter  in  the  matter 
of  protection. 27)  Homes  v/ere  needed  for  the  soldiers  and  for  the 
artisans  rho  supplied  the  needs  of  the  castle.   The  castle  chapel 
often  served  as  the  parish  church,  the  market  established  by  the 
lord  of  the  castle  attracted  trade,  the  castle  walls  afforded 
protection  when  needed. ^^^   Such  origin  of  French  towns  is 
indicated  by  names  that  contain  the  v;ords  chateau,  chatel  or 
chatillon,  roche,  fert^.29) 

Pifth,  we  find  the  site  selected  for  its  advantages  in 
trade  and  providing  its  own  protection.   Such  spots  v^ere  often 
places  viiere  a  break  in  the  transportation  of  commodities  v/as 
necessary,  v;here  goods  had  to  the  trans*-3hipped  -  at  sea  coasts 
and  river  crossings,  or  at  intersections  of  land  routes.   There 
merchants  would  naturally  stop  to  rest  and  to  exchange  wares. -"u; 
Examples  of  such  towns  were  Southampton  (which  migrated  from 
the  Roman  Glaus e nti um ) ,  Bristol  and  Norwich  in  England. '^-L/' 

A  sixth  site  was  the  fishing  village,  which  offered  oppor- 
tunities for  trade  that  developed  the  later  towns.  English 
examples  of  towns  that  rose  from  fishing  villages  are  Yarmouth, 
Grimsby,  Scarborough. 32) 

Meaning  of  "advantages  for  trade."   The  advantages  in  trade 
afforded  by  the  site  of  the  town  were  only  advantages  for  local 
trade  in  many  cases  -  the  amount  of  trading  that  was  done  between 
city  and  city  was  comparatively  small.   The  town  was  a  self 
sufficient  economic  unit,   it  had  no  great  need  for  communication 
with  the  outer  world  -  that  was  a  luxury  rather  than  a  necessity. >^; 
The  town  had  the  monopoly  of  the  trade  of  the  country  round 
about  -  the  people  of  the  surrounding  districts  had  to  bring 
their  products  to  the  town  market  for  disposal34)  and  the 
merchants , who  dealt  in  food  products  v;ere  the  first  to  acquire 
wealth."^^^  Trade  between  towns  was,  hov;ever,  carried  on,  and 
the  privileges  of  merchants  trading  in  other  towns  were  carefully 
guarded  by  the  merchant  gild. 26 J   Foreign  trade  was  more  important 
than  trade  betv/een  towns  of  the  sajne  country,  the  products  Ox  which 
were  too  similar  to  create  a  great  demand  for  exchange;  but  this 
foreign  trade  was  a  trade  betv;een  cities,  and  v;hen  collective 


27)  Cunningham,  II,  59. 

28)  Ashley,  Surveys .  181  (citing  Flach,  Origines) . 
29  Ibid. 


30}  Day,  42. 

51)    Rogers,   7fork  and  Wages ,    104- 

32)  Ibid,  104. 

33)  Ernest  Belfort.  Bax,  German  Culture  Past  and  Present 

(London.  1915j,.iri   131-132. 

34)  Pollock  &  Maitland,  I,  634. 

35)  Green,  Town  Life,  II,  60. 

36)  Pollock  &  Maitland,  I,  650. 

-67- 


control  came  in,  it  was  control  by  acsociations  of  cities,  such 
as  the  Hanse  -  the  great  league  of  German  towns. 

Amount  of  land  selected-   The  amount  of  land  included  in  the 
town  was  small  -  no  large  area  was  needed  to  house  the  population 
of  even  the  greater  towns.  London  had  in  the  thirteenth  century 
probably  not  more  than  25,000  37)  .  at  the  beginning  of  the 
fifteenth  century  probably  about  40,000-^^^  York  and  Bristol 
had  perhaps  10,000  each  in  the  thirteenth  century  ^yj  and  12,000 
by  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century. "^^^   In  the  last 
centuries  of  the  Middle  Ages  famous  towns  like  Nuremberg  and 
Strassburg  had  not  over  20,000  inhabitants,^!)  Frankfort  had 
scarcely  10,000. '^2)   According  to  Ashley  only  ten  to\vns  in 
England  had  more  than  5000  people  at  the  beginning  of  the 
fifteenth  century. 43)  The  areas  occupied  by  the  towns  were 
correspondingly  small.   Of  the  English  town  area  I  have  found 
no  figures,  but  Nuremberg  covered  about  340  acres,  Strassburg, 
193  acres  -  these  being  large  and  important  places  as  xie   have 
seen  by  the  figures  for  their  population.   Eberstadt,  speaking 
of  the  German  cities,  estimates  the  average  size  as  60  -  120 
hectares  -  about  150  to  30  0  acres ;-^'' 

It  ha3  often  been  stated  that  the  small  area  of  the  town 
was  due  to  the  necessity  of  enclosing  it  with  a  v;all,  and  that 
the  inhabitants  lived  crowded  within  the  walls.   Eberstadt  says, 
speaking  of  German  cities,  that  this  was  true  only  of  a  few  early 
settlements,  that  there  was  room  inside  the  v;alls  to  provide  the 
citizens  with  gardens,  that  there  were  open  extra  spaces  needed 
to  accomodate  the  people  who  came  into  tov/ns  for  protection  in 
time  of  war,  and  to  provide  for  feeding  the  inhabitants  in  time 
of  siege,  when  their  supplies  from  the  outside  v/ere  cut  off.  "^^^ 
Freo.uent  expansions  took  place.   Often  a  new  v/all  was  built  to 
include  the  new  territory  and  the  old  one  was  allov/ed  to  remain. ^o) 
The  building  of  nev/  walls  v/as  not  a  great  undertaking  -  the 
fortifications  were  neither  expensive  nor  difficult  to  construct. 
Between  1200  and  1450  Strassburg  had  four  such  expansions  ^M  - 
Cologne  until  1882  included  no  more  territory  than  it  had  in- 
cluded in  the  expansion  of  1180  -  700  years  before.   Great  ex- 
pansions took  place  in  \-jQTms   and  Basel  in  the  thirteenth  century, 
while Ilagdeburg  had  taken  in  as  much  territory  to  the  south  and 
west  m  1100  as  it  contained  in  1870.  ^^S)   Cunningham  has  noted 
similar  expansions,  after  the  crusades,  in  the  English  towns 

37]  Cheyney,  Ind.  a   Soc-  Hist.  57. 

38)  '^".J^  Ashley,  An   Introduction  to  Engl i sh  Economic  History  and 

Theory  (2  vols"..  New  York,  1894),  II,  11 

39)  Cheyney,  57. 

40)  Ashley,  Ec  Hist.  II.  11. 

41)  Day,  45. 

42)  Ibid. 

43)  Ashley,  Ec -  Hist. ,  II,  11. 

44)  Rudolf  Eberstadt  Handbuch  d.es  Wohnungsv^fe sens'  und  der 

Wohuungsfrage  (Jena,  1910"),  p.  36. 

45)  IMd,  29. 

46)  Ibid. ,  35. 

47)  Ibid. ,  35. 

48)  Ibid,  29,  50. 


of  Bury,  Norvjich  and  Peterborough-  ^   Thercj  was  at  the  same 
tine  an  emigration,  from  English  towns,  of  weaD.thy  burgesses, 
v;ho  bought  counxry  estates  and  sought  to  establish  themselves 
in  the  ranks  of  the  country  gentry. 50) 

Selection  of  land  inside  t}i£  tovrn ♦ 

1.  Public.   Selection  of  land  inside  the  tov;n  must  be  considered 
in  tv/o  parts  -  selection  of  the  public  land  -  streets,  markets, 
etc.  -  and  selection  of  private  land.   The  market  place  v/as 
usually  a  centrally  located  square  or  rectangular  open  place 
in  which  v;as  often  found  a  market  cross^-K   Near  the  market 
place  were  the  church  and  the  common  hall  -  sometimes  it  v/as 
the  tovm  hall,  sometimes  a  gild  hall,  aometimes  both  existed.  In 
small  towns  the  churchyard  might  be  the  inarket  place  and  the     ^g- 
church  itself  might  serve  as  the  meeting  place  for  the  co37imunity. 

The  streets  that  formed  the  sides  of  the  market  square  were 
cardinal  or  main  streets  of  the  city  and  usually  they  led  to  the 
four  gates  of  the  city.^^j   Sometimes  parallel  main  streets  ran 
through  a  city  joining  at  their  ends  near  city  gates  -  sometimes 
the  main  streets  were  bent  to  follov;  the  direction  of  some  road 
that  led  through  the  city. 54) 

Leading  off  from  these  main  streets  were  the  side  streets 
which  divided  the  building  land  of  the  tovms  into  suitable  tracts. 
Y^iile  the  m£-in  streets  were  moderately  wide  and  fairly  direct, 
these  side  streets  were  narrower  and  were  often  crooked  or  bent 
in  direction,  because  they  were  constructed  by  private  land  ov/ners 
who  were  dividing  their  land  to  increase  its  value  as  building 
land.   They  were  sometimes  bent  to  correspond  viith  the  boundaries 
of  the  privately  owned  land. 55) 

Both  the  main  and  the  side  streets  might  show  variations 
from  the  right  angled  system  even  in  cities  whose  plan  v;as 
rectangular,  for  topographical  reasons  -  the  medieval  builder 
usually  adapted  his  plans  to  nature  instead  of  forcing  nature  to 
the  plan.  However,  this  adaptation  was  not  made  without  con- 
sideration for  aesthetic  effect.   Eberstadt  says  that  the 
medieval  builder  sought  a  picture  changing  step  by  step  as  the 
pedestrian  proceeded  through  the  street,  rather  than  a  distant 


49)  Cunningham,  Western  Civilization,  II,  92. 

50)  Ashley,  Ec .  Hist. ,  II,  54- 

51)  Frederick  ',Y.  Ticknor,  Social  and  Industrial  History  of 
England  (London,  1918),  66;  Gibbins,  Industry  in  England,  96. 

52)  Ticknor,  66,  Green,  I,  153-155. 

53)  H.  Inigo  Triggs,  Tovm  Planning  {London,  1909),  pp.  75,  76. 

54)  Eberstadt,  pp.  37-39. 

55)  Eberstadt,  37-40;  Day,  45-6. 

-69- 


perspective.    ^^      In   those  medieval   cities    tiiat  were   completely 
planned  "by   their   founders,    the    side  streets   as  v/ell   as   the 
streets    shov/ed  regularity .  ^' J 


mam 


2.  Private.   All  privately  owned  land  in  the  city  v/as  used  for  res- 
idence purposes,  for  the  medieval  man  did  not  have  separate 
places  for  business  and  for  residence,  "but  pursued  his  occupa- 
tion in  his  home.   The  merchants  naturally  chose  houses  along 
the  main  streets  where  there  would  be  most  frequent  passage  of 
buyers. 5S)   j^e  artisans  of  like  kind  often  settled  together  in 
certain  streets  so  that  there  was  a  localization  of  industry. 
This  was  due  partly  to  regulation,  partly  to  the  needs  of  the 
industry.   Dyers,  tanners,  vrool   washers,  fullers,  settled  along 
a  water  course  so  that  the  v/aste  water  used  in  their  industries 
might  be  carried  off  -  often  in  order  to  protect  the  water  from 
pollution  they  were  prohibited  from  settling  in  certain  sections. 
V/eavers,  cloth  makers  and  similar  industries  were  found  near    ^gx 
together,  probably  due  to  the  convenience  of  common  arrangements.. 

Unlike  our  modern  city  with  its  residence  districts,  its 
business  districts,  its  manufacturing  districts,  in  the  medieval 
town  all  districts  were  residence  districts.   In  this  residential 
area,  in  some  streets  were  found  residences  which  were  also  the 
business  places  of  merchants,  in  other  streets  were  residences 
wi'"^ch  were  also  v^orkshops  of  craftsmen- 
There  were,  hov;ever,  zones  in  these  cities  which  were  set 
off  for  other  reasons.   The  Jews  lived  in  districts  by  themselves 
apart  from  the  other  inhabitants.^^)   Poreign  companies  of 
merchants  often  secured  rights  to  certain  quarters  in  the  to^vns, 
which  they  enclosed  and  shut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  town,  anr'. 
in  which  they  lived  under  their  own  lav;s  instead  of  the  laws  cf 
the  town.^^)  An  example  of  thi=^  was  the  Steelyard  in  London. 

Ill .  Ovt^nership  of  Land. 

A.  Private . 

1.  Original .   The  original  owners  of  the  land  in  towns  were  the 
same  as  in  the  country^^'  -  the  king,  the  nobles  and  the  clergy  - 
if  indeed  v;e  can  speak  of  ownership  at  all  at  this  time.   In  the 
feudal  system  many  persons  had  rigb.ts  in  any  piece  of  land,  but 
there  v;as  no  such  thing  as  absolute  ownership  of  it.   Though  at 
the  close  of  the  Roman  period  there  had  been  many  people  in  both 


56)  Eberstadt,  40. 

57)  Ibid.  ,  38,  39- 

58)  Ibid. ,  57. 

59)  Eberstadt,  57;  Clerget,  658,  others  also- 

60)  Gibbins,  103. 

61)  V/iliiam  Cunningham,  Growth  of  English  Industry  and  Comiiierce 

(Cambridge,  1890),  pp.  181,  182. 
52)  Wilhelm  Arnold,  Geschichte  des  Eigenthums  in  den  Deutschen 
Stadten  (Basel,  1861).  p-  8. 

-70- 


to'v.n  and  country  possebsed  of  aliods,  nost  of  these  iiad 
disappeared  during  the  intervening  period.  Many  of  these  allodial 
holders  of  land  v/ent  over  into  an  unfree  state,  giving  their  land 
into  the  possession  of  lord  or  bishop  or  monastery  and  receiving 
it  'back  in  feudal  tenure  from  him.^-^J   This  transfer  v/as  often 
made  voluntarily,  with  the  motive  of  securing  the  lord's  protect- 
ion.  The  land  was  then  held  by  its  former  owner  in  return  for 
services  or  rents. 

2.  Burga/re  tenure.   As  the  Middle  Ages  advanced,  payment  of  money 
rents  became  much  more  desirable,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
user  of  the  land,  than  payment  in  services,  which  were  often  de- 
manded at  inconvenient  times  -  wlien  the  tenant  most  needed  to 
work  on  his  own  land  -  and  in  amounts  that  were  not  so  narrov/ly 
determined  that  the  tenant  could  not  be  exploited  by  the  lord's 
agents.   The  people  in  the  rising  towns  often  managed  to  secure 
a  commutation  of  all  services  into  money  rents  even  before  they 
secured  their  charters. ^4  J   This  free  tenure  for  a  moneyrent  was 
called  in  English  burgage  tenure  from  burgus  the  lov/  Latin  word 
for  borough  or  town;  and  similar  terms  with  similr-r  meaning  are 
found  in  I^ench  and  German.  ^^^ 

^mat  was  the  content  of  the  right  of  burgage  tenure? 
Pollock  and  IIs.itland  in  the  History  of  English  Law,  speaking  of 
the  right  as  it  existed  in  England,  include  (l)  freedom  from  all 
f:er-"ices,  which  were  commuted  into  a  fixed  money  rent,  2)  the 
right  of  passing  on  the  land  e-nd.   buildings  (or  tenement  as  they 
were  called  together)  to  an  heir,  to  be  held  on  the  same  terms, 
3)  the  right  ci  selling  the  tenement  to  another  who  will  hold  on 
the  same  terms.   3ome  of  these  things  were  enumerated  in  charters, 
but  they  seem  to  have  been  more  often  a  matter  of  custom  than  an 
express  grant. t)6) 

3.  Firma  burgi  •  "'."Men  the  land  belonged  to  the  royal  domain,  or 
entirely  to  one  of  the  feudal  lords,  the  townsmen  could  secure 
still  further  independence  through  the  f i  rma  pur;~i ,  by  which  the 
tovm  received  the  right  to  be  the  rent  collector  of  the  great 
land  07/ner,  substituting  collective  responsibilitv  for 
individual  responsibility  in  the  matter  of  rents. uv)   They  no 
longer  went  to  the  lords  or  kings  court  to  transfer  their  tene- 
ments, but  to  the  town  or  borough  court,  and  the  right  of  >- 
the  lord  over  the  tenement  becomes  still  more  remote  -» )  he  is  now 
a  mere  receiver  of  fixed  ground  rents.   As  time  went  on  and 


63)  Arnold,  pp.  8-13  (and  many  other  places). 

64)  Pollock  &  Maitland,  I,  629. 

65)  Ashley,  Surveys,  199  (quoting  Pirenne) . 

66)  Pollock  &  Maitland,  I,  629,  630. 

67)  Ibid. ,  I,  p.  276;  and  others. 

68)  Ibid.  ,  I,  630. 

-71- 


money  became  less  valuable, these  fixed  rents  became  hardly 
more  than  nominal,  69)  g^nd  even  at  that  there  were  frequent 
remissions  of  rent  lavished  on  the  bouroughs  in  the  later  period 
when  nobles  and  Icings  were  striving  for  supremacy.''-') 

Courts.  Even  v^hen  the  land  in  the  tov/n  had  been  originally  held 
from  several  different  feudal  lords,  the  formation  of  the  borough 
courts  enjoying  royal  franchises  had  the  effect  of  reducing  the 
lords'  rights  over  the  land  to  a  mere  right  of  receiving  rent. 
English  Icings  in  establishing  such  courts  often  ordained  that 
none  of  the  townspeople  could  be  held  answerable  for  their 
tenements  within  the  borough  in  any  other  court.  '^^      Cheyney 
says  that  burgage  tenure  was  the  nearest  to  actual  land  ov/nership 
that  existed  during  the  Kiddle  AgeE.'"^' 

In  English  towns  possessing  the  firma  burgi  the  rent  was 
paid  to  the  town  officers  \iho   v;ere  responsible  for  its  collection. 
These  were  by  no  means  easy  masters,  for  in  certain  English  tov/ns, 
if  a  man  failed  to  pay  his  rent  for  the  king's  ferm,  "the  doors 
and  v;indows  of  his  house  v/ere  taken  off,  every  one  in  it  turned 
out,  and  the  house  stood  empty  for  a  year  and  a  day  or  even  longer 
before  the  doors  might  be  redeemed  in  full  court,  or  before  it 
passed  to  the  next  heir."'73j   On  the  other  hand,  the  English 
burgess  v;as  often  given  additional  security  in  his  tenure  by  the 
charters  sometimes  secured  from  the  king,  stating  that  if  any 
one  who  holds  a  tenement  in  the  tov;n  for  a  year  and  a  day,  the 
claims  of  every  person  to  that  tenement  shall  be  barred,  unless 
the  claimant  was  in  prison,  under  age  or  beyond  the  seas. ''1) 

Explanations  of  rise  of  burgage  tenure.   English  v/riters  on  the 
subject  of  burgage  tenure  have  not  shown  the  interest  in  v/orking 
out  the  reasons  for  the  rise  of  this  system, that  is  manifested  by 
the  Erench  and  German  scholars.   The  Erench  writers,  Pirenne 
and  Elach  have  considered  the  point,  with  the  result  that  Pirenne 
attributes  it  to  the  passing  over  of  the  personal  privileges  of 
freedom  possessed  by  the  merchants  to  the  tenements  v;laich  they 
held;75)  while  Elach  has  seen  the  system  as  developing  from  the 
privileges  granted  hy   lords  wlio  wished  to  attract  residents  to 
the  villages  on  their  domains."^^) 

The  German  investigator,  ^Ihelm  Arnold,  has  with  pains- 
taking thoroughness  gone  back  to  the  ultimate  sources  of  in- 
formation in  this  subject  -  the  records  of  deeds  and  transfers 


69)  Ashley,  Surveys ,  192  (quoting  Varges). 

70)  Green,  Tovm  Life,  I,  27. 

71)  Pollock  &  Mai tland,  I,  629,  630. 

72)  Cheyney,  Indus.  &  Social  Hist,  p.  59. 

73)  Green,  Town  Life,  I,  141- 

7  4)  Pollock  &  Maitland,  I,  632. 

75)  Ashley,  Surveys,  197-199  (abstracting  Pirenne). 

76)  Ibid., 183  (quoting  Elach) . 

-72- 


of  landed  property  in  the  thirteenth,  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries.   He  believes  that  the  transition  froiu  a  feudal  tenure 
to  tiie  free  tenure  v;hich  Wc..s  so  much  like  complete  ownership,  v/cs 
due  to  the  principle  of  Germanic  law  that  distinguished  "between 
property  in  land  and  propeity  in  buildings  on  that  land,  v/hich 
superseded  the  principle  of  Roman  lav;  that  gave  to  the  l^nd  owner 
ownership  of  any  improvements  that  might  be  put  upon  it.''/ 
Arnold  recognises  three  stages :- 

(1)  Lord  as  ovmer,  tenant  has  merely  possession- 

(2)  Lord  and  tenant  have  like  riglits  due  to  the  separate 
ov/nership  of  land  and  buildings. 

(3)  Property  belongs  to  the  tenant  -  the  lord  has  only  a 
fixed  ground  rent  changeable  neither  in  amount  nor  in  times  of 
payment  .'''2) 


Documents  examined  by  him  indicate  that  the  first  stage 
still  prevailed  in  German  cities  in  the  thirteenth  century,     ^ 
the  fourteenth  century  sav;  the  development  of  the  second  stage,  i 
and  the  fifteenth  century,  the  a.ccomplishment  of  the  third. °'-') 
S^erstadt,  another  student  of  German  cities,  believes  that  these 
changes  came  about  through  the  need  for  securing  the  best 
utilization  of  the  land.   He  says  that  while  the  whole  agrarian 
system  of  the  time  rested  on  the  indivisibility  of  the  land, 
city  life  required  divisibility  for  the  furnishing  of  all 
citizens  with  land  and  for  its  best  utilisation,  and  that  the 
difficulty  was  passed  by  the  device  of  leasing  the  lot  for  a 
fixed  rent  to  a  tenant  who  had  unlimited  control  of  the  land  as 
long  as  he  paid  the  rent,  who  had  ownership  of  the  buildings  he 
put  upon  the  lot,  and  who  could  pass  both  leased  lot  and  buildings 
to  his  heirs. Q"^) 

Landed  property  qualification  for  citizenship.   The  possession 
of  landed  property  was  thus  not  difficult  to  attain. °2)   in  the 
English  towns  probably  from  the  beginning  artisans  had  burgage 
tenements,  but  Arnold  finds  that  in  the  German  cities  the 
artisans  or  hand  workers  did  not  hold  landed  property  until  the 
end  of  the  thirteenth  century. 83)  This  ease  of  acquiring  burgage 
tenure  v.'as  the  more  important  because  the  privileges  of  citizen- 
ship were  bound  up  with  the  holding  of  land.   Full  citizenship 
depended  primarily  on  the  possession  of  a  house  and  land  withip 
the  town  limits. ^4)   Sometimes  new  citizens  were  required  to  buy 
houses  within  their  first  year. 85)   This  v/as  not  surprising  at  a 


77)  Sberstadt,  44  (summarising  Arnold):  Arnold,  pp.  25S-288  f f . 

78)  Arnold,  258. 

79)  Ibid-.,  272,  275,  ff.;  277-231. 
SO)  ibid.  ,  286  ff . 

81)  Eberstadt,  43,  44. 

82)  Ashley,  Surveys ,  192  ( citing  Varges) . 

83)  Arnold,  31-33. 

84)  Cheyney,  59;  Ashley,  Surveys,  205  (abstracting  Keutgen) ,  -^15; 
Ashley,  Ec_.  Hist,  II,  23;  Cunningham,  Growth,  etc.  95;  Luchaire, 
55,  57. 

85)  Luchaire,  56-7. 

-73- 


B 


period  when  political   institutions  were   so   completely  iDound  up 
wixh  the   feudal   system  of  land  tenure.      No    doubt   it  would  not 
hare   occurred  to    the  medieval   townsmen  to    include   as  responsible 
citizens    the  landless   men.      Kor  would  it  have  been  altogether 
reasonable,    for   the   land  holder  v/as    the  bearer  of  municipal 
burdens    -  he  paid  "scot  and   lot"  with  his   fellow   townsmen,   he 
shared  the   common  burdens  and  earned  the  privileges   that  he 
possessed, S6J    and  these  privileges   he  guarded  carefully  against 
the    intrusion  of  outsiders  .87 )      Sometimes    indeed  the  burdens 
overbalanced  the  privileges,    and  in   -Qie  Prench  towns  where  nobles 
and  clergy  were  also  residents,   vdthout   taJ-cing  part   in  either 
the  burdens   or  privileges   of   citizenship,   we   find  occasionally^ 
that  townsmen  try   to    escape   the  burdens  by  qualifying  as   "clerks,  " 
and  at  other  times    there  were  regulations   to    oblige  all    in- 
habitants who  had  houses    in  the   tov;n  to  become  members    of  the 
communal  association. 88)      Hov/ever,    as    time  v/ent   on  this   situation 
changed  somewhat.      The  aniiount  of  land  required  for   citizenship 
decreased.      In  Liverpool   in  the   fourteenth  century    it  was   one 
eighth  or  even  one   forty-eighth  of  Y^at  it  had  been  originally. 
In  some   towns   the  son  of  a  citizen  mi^t  become  a   citizen  before 
he   inherited  his  father's   property. 89)      The   owners    of  burgage 
tenements  might  let  houses   to  artisans,   who.v.'ould  achieve 
citizenship  without   the  possession   of  burgage   tenements  by 
membership   in  the   craft   gilds. 

Before   or  during   the   fifteenth  century  a   conpiet.e  change 
took  place.      Citizenship   came   to   be  associated  v/ith  membership 
in  the    gilds,    ajid   the   town   council  was   itself,    in  v/hole   or   in 
part,    composed  of  representatives    of  the  gilds.      An  association 
of  persons   as  persons  had   talcen  the   place   of  an  association 
based  upon  land. -O)      Long  before  municipal   or   even  gild   life 
began   to   decay  it  had  done  an   important  work,    politically  and 
socially,   by  recognizing  persons  as   standing   for   themselves  and 
not  tied  to   the   land  or   depending   on  a  superior   lord.      "Land  was 
no   longer   the  basis    of   everything:    a  nev;  social  and  economic 
form  had  appeared,    and  slowly,    but  surely  feudalism  began  to 
give  way  before    itJ'91) 

Public  .      Tihere   the  English  boroughs    secured   the   f  irma  burf^i  'and 
were    collectively   responsible   for  the   rents,  v;hich  v;ere   paid 
to    the    tovrn  officials,  it  might  be  supposed  that  a  certain   title 
to   tlie    landed  property  was   vested  in   the   town   itself;   but   this 
was   not   the   case.      The  burgesses   did  not  hold  their  lands   from 

86)    Cunninghaia,   Growth,    203,    205. 

67)    Ibid. ,    also   Cunningham,    West.    Civ. ,    II,    93. 

88)  Luchaire,  56  ff 

89)  Green,  I,  172  -  3. 

90)  Ashley,  Ec.  Hist. .  II,  23,  24- 

91)  Gibbins,  p.  97. 

-7  4- 


the   tovm,    and  iDroperty  that   escheated,    escheated  to    the  king  and 
not  to    the  borough. 92"}      indeed  it   is   doubtful  whether   the   public 
property  of  the   tovm  -   the   v;alls,    ditches,    streets  and  open 
spaces    -  were   the   property   of   the  burgesses    collecti\'ely •      They 
were  still  thou^t  of'as   the   king's  walls,    the  king's  streets, 
etc.,    and  one  :vho   encroached  upon  them  was  held  to  have   committed 
an  offense  against   the  king, 93)     The   idea  of   the   town  as   a 
corporation,    capable   of  holding  property  as  a  person,  v;as  un- 
developed at  the   time   of  the   rise   of  the  towns,    and  developed 
very  slov;ly,    step  by  step  v/ith   the   development    of   the    idea  of 
property.  94,' 

This  public  property,    held  if  not   owned  by  the  burgesses, 
v/as  very  small    -   little  more   than   the  walls,    streets,    ditches, 
open  spaces,   market  places,    though   in  some   cases   patriotic 
citizens  willed   their   property   to   the   tovm.  95)      There  was   reason 
for  this  from  the   feudal  point   of  view.      7rora   the  middle   of    the 
thirteenth   century    there  had  been  outcry  against  gifts    in  mort- 
main -    that   is   gifts   to  bodies   that  had  a  perpetual   existence, 
such  as   the    church,   monasteries , etc.      These  were   undesirable 
tenants   tliat   never  died,    never  married,    never   committed   felony, 
and  hence  v/ere   never  liable  for  payments   of    the   dues  and  fines 
collected  by   feudal   lords    on  such  occasions.      Tovms  were    equally 
undesirable,    hence  vv'e   see   the   kings    clinging  to    the    title    to   tne 
lr...,r.   v.'hich  the  burgess    controlled. 96) 

Common.      ITor   is    it  at  all    certain  v.hether   the   king  parted  with 
the   title   to   the   common  lands    over  which  the   burgesses  had  the 
right   of  use.      Tl'.ese,    unlike    the   public  property  of   the    town^^ 
were  considerable   in  extent  and  v/ere  outside    the  town  walls. 
They  consisted   of  arable   land  used   in  strips    (as    in   the   manorial 
system),    pastures,   v/oodlands,   meadows,  98)    sometimes  also 
fisheries,    salt  pits   and  other    things. 99)      These   could  not  be 
divided,    rented,    or   sold,    but  were   used  in  common  by   individual 
burgesses   under   definitely   determined  conditions .^00)      Tor 
example,    a  certain  tenement   carried  with   it   the   right    to    graze 
so  inany    animals    on  the    common  pasture-      In   rich    coinmunities  as 
well  as   in  poor  struggling  boroughs  the   inhabitants  never 
relaxed  their  vigilance    in   the   protection   of   their   common 
property.      They  assembled  yearly  to    "beat  the    bounds"   and  to 
see   that   there  had  been  no    diminishing   of   their    rights   nor 
alienation   of    their   common   land,    and  that    there  had  been  no 
favoritism  in  the  allotments . ^Oi. 


92)  Pollock  &  Kaitland,    I,    636,    637,    638. 

93)  Ibid. ,    I,    G35,    636. 

94)  Ashley,    Surveys ,    233    ( citing  Mai tland  and   Gierke), 

95)  Pollock  fie  Maitland,    I,    639. 

96)  Ibid. 

97)  Pollock  &  Maitland,  I,  636;  Ashley,  Surveys,  173,  citing 
Luchaire. 

98)  Cunningham,  West.  Civ. ,11,  60;  Green,  I,  136. 

99)  Green,  I,  133. 

100) Ashley,  Ec ■  Hist. ,  II,  40,  41;  Surveys ,  232. 
10l)Green,  Town  Life,  I,  137. 

-7  5- 


IV   -   -uiand  Utilization. 

After  all  we  have  hea-'Cl  about   trade  being   the   cause   of   the 
e::istence   of   towns,    it   comes  as   a*  surprise  v/hen  we  are    told  that 
the    chief  use   to  rhich  land  was  put   in   the   medieval    tovm  was   an 
agricultural  use. 

A-    Conimon  Lands .      Of  the    common   lands    outside  the    town  we  would 

expect   no  tiling  else.      These   consisted  of  woodlands,    pastures  and, 
in  the   early  days,    of  arable   fields   also,    though  this   crop   land 
had  nearly  everywhere   disappeared  before  the   end  of    the  Middle 
Ages.lCS)     3ut   common  pastures    long   continued,    in  which   the 
townspeople   grazed   their  animals      the   number   of  animals   that 
could  be  put  upon   the  common  by  each  person  being  definitely 
determined  and   special   officers   appointed   to   see   that   this   rate 
or   stint,    as    it  was   called,  v;as   not  exceeded. 103)      These   rights 
were   no  mean  addition   to    the  resource   of   the  burgher  household, 
and  the   enjo;:,'ment   of   them  was   carefully  guarded  against   intrusion 
of   outsiders. -'-0'^) 

B.   Private   land. 

1.    Agriculture.     But   it  v/as  more  surprising  to   find  that  the 
privately  owned   land  within   the  walls   was   used   chiefly  for 
agricultural  purposes.      Most   of    the   townspeople  had  garden 
.plots;  1*^5'   many  also  had  orchards ;  106)    they  kept  about  their 
tenements    -   sometimes    even   in  the  house   itself    -    the   animals  which 
v/ere   pastured  on   the   comn.on  lands,    and  the   effort   to   keep  wander- 
ing pigs    off  the   streets  was   a  distinct  failure. 107)      in  harvest 
time  many  of  the   citizens  v;ent  out   into   the   country   and   took 
part   in  the  gathering  of   the   crops   -   Coblentz   stopped  work   on 
the  city  walls   during  harvest  time  in   the   thirteenth    century.  108) 

Even  in  important  German   cities    such  as  Frankfurt,   Nuremburg, 
and  Augsburg,    cows,    pigs,    sheep,    fov/ls,    and  geese  were   kept  with- 
in the   city  walls.      Prani:furt  had   to    forbid  pig   styes  in   front   of 
the  houses   by  a  decree    in  1481.      The  bankers'    gild  of  Ulm  forbade 
any  member   of   it   to   have  more   than  24  pigs  and   cows;   l^Iuremberg 
in  1475  decreed  tiiat  no  pigs   or   other   stock  Liust   run   loose   on 
the  streets. lOS) 

Inventories    of  wealth,    taien   for    the   purpose   of   assessing 
taxes,    show   the   agricultural    characteristics   of   the   towns.      The 
roll   of   Colchester,    taken  in  1295,    shows   a  preponderance   of 
agricultural  property  such  as    live    stock  and  agricultural  produce, 
although  Colchester  was   one   of   the  more   impor'^ant    tov;ns   at  that 
time. 110 ) 


102)  Ashley,  :ec  .  Hist.,  II,  40,  41. 

103)  Ibid. ,  II,  40,  41;  Surveys,  232. 

104)  Ashley,   Ec    Hist.,    II,    41. 

105)  Ticknor,    61;   Day,    45;  Bax.    German  Culture,    133;    Rogers, 


'.York  and  Vages ,    111 


106)  Bax,   German  Culture,    133. 

107)  Day,    45. 

108)  Ibid. 

109)  Bax,   German  Culture,    153. 

110)  Day,    46-7.  r^g 


In  1519  one  of  the  most  respectaljle  innkeepers  of  Bridport 
owned: 

2  hogs  1  horse 

2  beds  1  "brass  pot 

2  tablecloths        1  platter 
2  hand  napkins       A  fev;  wooden  vessels 

Some  malt.m) 

In  1380  the  mayor  of  Liverpool  had  property  valued  at 
L28  6s  4d  -  made  up  of 

Domesti  '  utensils 
Grain  in  store 
^Vheat  sown 
9  oxen  and  cows 
6  horses 
18  pigs 

and  he  was  no  doubt  a  rich  man  in  his  borough.   "■'   Rogers  says 
that  even  London  was  a  rus  in  urbe,  as  nearly  all  walled  tov/ns 
in  England  were. 115) 

Residence.   The  fact  that  the  tovmspeople  used  their  land  and 
hci'ses  for  both  residence  and  business  purposes  has  been  touched 
upon.  We  are  apt  to  think,  vAien  v/e  hear  of  a  medieval  town 
house,  of  some  picture  that  we  have  seen  shov/ing  a  charming 
building  of  considerable  dimensions,  better  built  than  our 
dv/ellings  of  to-day,  and  frequently  far  more  artistic.  But  it 
must  be  -emeinbered  that  only  the  best  buildings  survived  the  wear 
and  tear  of  intervening  centuries,  and  that  the  class  of  buildings 
of  which  the  charming  survivor  was  a  type   did  not  begin,  to  be 
built  until  near  the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages.H^)  Mrs.  Green 
described  the  English  town  houses  about  1300  as  "mud  or  wood 

framed  huts  with  gabled  roof  of  thatch  and  reeds'.' "lining 

narrow  lanes  and  sheltering  a  people  who,  accepting  a  common 
poverty,  traded  in  little  more  than  the  mere:  necessaries  of  life. 
It  was  not  till  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  that  the 
towns  as  they  entered  a  larger  industrial  activity  began  to  free 
themselves  from  the  indesc^-ibable  squalor  and  misery  of  the 
early  Middle  Ages."115)   xhe  houses  were  built  of  wood,  or  with 
v/ooden  frames  filled  in  with  mud  or  plaster  and  v/hitewashed,  and 
were  eo  flimsy  in  structure  that  they  could  easily  be  pulled 
down  with  a.  hook.   This  is  exactly  v;hat  v/as  done  in  case  of  fire, 
to  prevent  the  fire -from  spreading  elsewhere.   Fires  were 


111) 

Green,  Town  Life,  I,  11 

112) 

Ibid. .11,  51,  note. 

113) 

Rogers,  Work  and  Wages 

114) 
115) 

Lay.  46,  47. 

Green,  I,  13. 

111. 


-77. 


frequent  and  disastrous,  for  the  houses  were  not  provided  with 
any  proper  arrangements  for  heating  or  cooking  -  there  v/ere  no 
chimney s.-'-^S^  The  interiors  were  narrgw,  dark,  drafty,  good 
neither  for  v;ork  nor  for  residence.il''' j   The  ordinary  householder 
had  fev/  of  the  comforts  of  life.  His  dwelling  had  an  earthen 
floor,  no  carpets,  hardly  any  furniture.   The  meat  v/as  served 
from  spits  "because  of  a  lack  of  earthenware  plates.   Well-to-do 
burgesses  lived  in  this  fashion  at  the  end  of  the  thirteenth 
century;  royal  palaces  v/ere  little  better  at  the  time  of  King 
John.ll&)   Speaking  particularly  of  German  tov/ns ,  Htillman  says 
that  only  in  the  thirteenth  century  does  a  desire  for  beautiful 
dv/ellings  av^aken  -  there  is  no  trace  of  it  before. H^)  Up  to 
this  time  few  fine  houses  could  c.e   found  except  in  some  of  the 
more  important  Italian  tov;ns  and  perhaps  in  Flanders  and  in  the 
free  cities  of  the  Rhine. 120)  Even  as  late  as  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century  an  Italian  writer  commented  on  the  lack  of 
fine  houses  in  London. 121] 

Ticknor  has  given  an  account  of  tiie  houses  that  could  be 
found  in  an  English  to-.-m  in  the  fourteenth  century.   The  houses 
of  the  poorer  people  in  back  lanes  were  usually  of  one  story 
only;  sometimes  a  chamber  was  built  above  this,  reached  by  an 
outside  stair.   Tlie  upper  room,  if  such  existed,  projected  over 
the  lower  into  the  street.  A  more  prosperous  artisan  would  have 
a  i)  rase  with  a  cellar;  the  ground  floor,  a  foot  or  two  above_ 
the  street,  was  used  as  a  shop;  and  living  rooms  for  the  family 
were  either  back  of  this  or  above  it,  while  the  apprentices 
often  slept  in  the  shop.   The  shop  had  a  large  windovif  shutter 
that  let  down  as  a  counter  v;here  goods  might  be  displayed  for 
sale.   A  wealthy  merchant,  such  as  a  pepperer,  a  mercer,  or  a 
goldsmith,  might  possess  a  house  with  two  stories  beside  the 
cellar.   The  ground  floor  would  be  occupied  by  the  shop,  with  a 
large  hall  or  living  room  behind  it  and  often  a  kitchen  also. 
A  stairway  at  the  side  led  to  the  large  sleeping  apartment  above, 
a  third  story  under  the  high  roof  might  be  used  for  storage. 
These  better  houses  had  often  party  walls  of  stone  to  a  height  of 
sixteen  feet,  the  upper  floors  only  being  of  wood. 122) 

While  English  writers  speak  of  the  use  of  different  floors 
in  two  story  houses  as  separate  tenements,  I  have  found  no 
description  of  double  and  multiple  houses  in  English  tov/ns  in 
these  early  centuries.   Eberstadt,  speaking  of  German  towns 
mentions  three  distinct  types  of  houses,  (l)  the  separate  house 
standing  free  on  all  sides,  (2)  the  "half  house"  -  though 
the  vertical  division  of  a  larger  house,  (3)  rows  of  houses 


116)  Day,  46,  47. 

117)  Ibid. 

118)  Cunningham,  Growth ,  I,  275. 

119)  Karl  Dietrich  HiUllraan,  Stadtwesen  des  Mittelalters  (4  vols 
Bonn,  1826-9),  IV,  34. 

120)  Rogers,  Work  and  Wages ,  112. 

121)  George  Gordon  Goulton,  Social  Life  in  Britain  from  the 
Concuest  to.  th_e  Reformation  (Cambridge,  1918),  334  Iciting 
Italian  Relations^  pT  4l)  - 

122)  Ticknor,  pp.  60-63.         ^-o 


under  one  roof.   ^^  The  p?.an  of  lot  v/as,  as  is  usual  today, 
narrow  with  generous  depth,  and  the  house  v/as  placed  at  the 
front,  v/ith  its  narrow  end  to  the  streetA24)   it  was  often 
separated  from  its  neighbor  by  a  side  set-off  going  dov/n  to  a 
gutter  that  carried  off  rain  and  v;aste  water.   The  house  sometimes 
had  windows  on  this  side,  but  this  was  not  alv/ays  pleasing  to  the 
neighbors,  and  it  is  througli  the  neighborhood  feuds  that  were 
fought  out  in  the  courts  that  many  details  concerning  the 
structure  of  these  houses  have  been  gleaned.  1-25) 

?ron  the  small  number  of  rooms  that  must  shelter  the  family, 
the  apprentices,  or  the  servants  of  the  merchant,  and  provide 
shop  or  salesroom  and  store  rooms  as  well,  it  is  evident  that 
there  must  have  been  crowding  of  people  in  the  houses  even  if 
there  was  not  crowding  of  houses  in  the  town. 

3.  Commerce  and  manufacture.   As  we  have  seen,  the  ground  floor 
front  room  v;as  used  as  a  shop  by  merchant  and  artisan.   Often  a 
v/indow  shutter,  when  let  down,  formed  a  counter  for  the  display 
of  the  artisan's  goods,  if,  indeed,  he  did  any  displaying. 126 ) 
Often  he  v/orked  on  materials  supplied  to  him  by  the  person  who 
had  ordered  his  work,  and  frequently  he  took  his  tools  and  did 
the  work  at  the  home  of  the  customer. ^27) 

The  merchants  v.'ho  had  goods  ready  to  sell  also  displayed 
them  in  front  of  their  homes  on  benches  across  the  v/indow  spaces 
or  in  booths  attached  to  the  houses, 128)  while  signs  telling 
passers  by  of  their  wares  hung  nine  feet  above  the  street  from 
the  over  hanging  upper  stories,  which  formed  a  sort  of  pent-house 
over  the  display  place  below.   This  height  for  signs  and  for  the 
overhanging  upper  stories  was  required  in  the  interest  of  horsemen 
passing  through  the  streets. ^29)   j^  the  early  part  of  the  Middle 
Ages  there  v/ere  fev/  merchants  who  were  solely  merchants  -  most  of 
them  practised  some  sort  of  manual  calling.   In  the  tv/elfth 
century  the  members  of  the  merchant  gild  were  craftsmen  first  and 
merchants  next  as  far  as  the  occupation  of  their  time  went.  ^^ ) 

Some  idea  of  the  busi^^ess  uses  to  which  the  medieval 
townsmen  put  their  houses  can  be  seen  from  the  list  of  occupations 
in  Colchester  -  taken  for  the  poll  tax  in  1377. 


123)  Eberstadt,    47. 

124)  Ibid.  ,    45;    Ticknor,    61. 

125)  Eberstadt,    47. 

126)  Ticknor,    61. 

127)  Ashley,    Surveys ,    210,    226;    Rogers,    Work  and  Wages,    144; 
Other  authorities   also. 

128)  Day,    46,    47. 
I29J    Ticknor,    63. 

130)    Cunningraan  Outlines .    63,    64. 

-79- 


Clergymen 

12 

And  one  each  of  the  following: 

People  of  substance 

10 

Vinter 

Shoemakers 

16 

Iron  monger 

Parmers 

13 

Brewer 

Smiths 

10 

Glazier 

Weavers 

8 

Sea  coal  dealer 

Butchers 

8 

Old  clothes  dealer 

Bakers 

7 

Fuel  dealer 

Pullers 

6 

Cooper 

Girdlers 

6 

Viliite  leather  seller 

Mariners 

5 

Potter 

Millers 

4 

Parchment  maker 

Tailors 

4 

Furrier 

Dyers 

3 

Cook 

rishermen 

3 

Tiler 

Carpenters 

3 

Bov/yer 

Spicers  or  grocers 

3 

Barber 
llustarder 
V/ool  comber 
Lorimer 
Wood  turner 
Linen  draper 
?/lieelwright 
Glover^^-) 

C  Public  Lands .   The  utilization  of  urban  public  lands  in  the_ 

Middle  Ages  presents  even  a  greater  contrast  to  modern  conditions. 
Today  we  think  of  the  streets  as  useful  chiefly  for  transporta- 
tion, for  the  i^iaintenance  of  sufficient  light  and  air  in  the  build- 
ing facing  upon  them,  and  for  the  carrying  of  public  utilities 
such  as  water  and  gas  mains,  v/ires  for  light,  telephone,  telegraph, 
etc.   Theee  purposes  the  streets  of  a  medieval  town  served  badly 
or  not  at  all.   As  a  path  for  transportation  the  medieval  street 
was  very  inadequate.   It  v/as  not  paved;  in  v/et  weather  it  became 
a  sea  of  mud;  even  in  dry  v;eather  it  might  be  in  such  a  condition 
because  of  the  floods  of  v^aste  v/ater  drained  into  it  from  the 
houses  of  dyers,  tanners,  wool  vrashers  and  others  who  used  water 
in  their  work. 132)   Even  when  the  street  v;as  dry  it  was  filled 
with  obstacles.   The  iron  worker  sometimes  cast  the  cinders  from 
his  foundry,  smoking  hot,  upon  the  street; 133)  lumber  dealers 
blocked  it  with  trees;  grain  dea.lers  vrinnowed  their  grain  by 
throwing  it  from  an  upper  window  into  the  street  to  get  rid  of 
the  cliaff  which  drifted  off  in  clouds.   The  housekeeper  had  no 
more  respect  for  the  proper  use  of  the  street  than  had  her 
artisan  husband,  all  the  v/aste  from  the  kitchen  was  thrown  into 
the  street  where  it  remained  to  decay  unless  it  was  eaten  by  the 
pigs  and  dogs  that  v/andered  over  the  streets,  constituting  the 
sole  method  of  garbage  disposal  known  in  the  Middle  Ages. 
Indeed  so  necessary  v;as  the  work  of  these  scavengers  that  when 
tovms  in  a  spirit  of  civic  zeal  decreed  that  these  animals  must 


131)  Rogers, 

132)  Green, 

133)  Ibid. 


ITork  and  ^^age^s  ,    121. 
Town  "Li~f  e  ,    II,    30,    31. 

-SO- 


te  kept  off  the  streets,  the  dangers  of  pestilence  due  to  the 
presence  of  decaying  matter  were  increased. ^^4) 

I  have  found  no  more  vivid  picture  of  the  condition  of 
the  streets  in  the  Middle  Ages  than  that  given  by  Mrs.  J.R.  Green 
in  her  Tov-'n  Life:  She  says:   "Streets  were  choked  with  the 
refuse  of  the  stahle,  made  irapassihle  ty  the  ' skaldynge  de 
hogges',  flooded  by  the  overflow  of  a  house,  drowned  by  the 
turning  of  a  watercourse  out  of  its  way  or  the  putting  up  of  a 
dam  by  some  private  citizen  heedless  of  ill  consequences  to  the 
public  road.  Lumber  dealers  cast  trunks  of  trees  right  across 
the  street,   dyers  poured  their  waste  waters  over  it  till  it 
became  a  mere  swamp,  builders  blocked  it  up  utterly  with  the 
framework  of  their  new  houses,  and  traders  made  their  v;harves 
upon  it.  Not  only  the  most  thriving  and  respectable  merchants, 
such  as  the  Honinwodes ,  but  the  butcher  and  sv/ine  keeper  as  well, 
threv/  the  waste  of  house  and  shambles  and  swine-cote  into  the 
open  street  till  there  vjas  scarcely  any  passage  left  for  the 
wayfarer;  or  established  a  'hoggestok' ,  'which  smells  very 
badly  and  is  abominable  to  all  men  coming  to  market,  as  v/ell  as 
to  all  dwelling  in  the  tov;n. '  "^•'''^^ 

Even  a  university  town  like  Carabridge  sho^ved  no  better  con- 
ditions, as  the  record  f i om  Cooper's  Annals  of  Cambridge  shows  a 
royal  writ  required  the  Chancellor  of  the  University  of  Carabridge 
"to  remove  from  the  streets  and  lanes  of  the  tov/n  all  sv/ine,  and 
all  dirt,  dung,  filth  and  branches  of  trees;  and  to  cause  the 
streets  sjid  lanes  to  be  kept  clean  for  the  future. "156) 

The  merchants  as  well  as  the  artisaTiS  made  use  of  the  streets 
for  their  ov/n  purposes.   Besides  disposing  of  v/aste  upon  it, 
they  encroached  upon  the  street  by  displaying  their  wares  upon 
it  in  front  of  their  houses,  even,  in  the  later  Middle__^Ages, 
building  booths  for  these  wares  out  into  the  streets, l^v)  thus 
narrowing  further  a  sufficiently  narrow  way. 

The  narrowness  of  the  streets  prevented  the  performance 
of  tliat  service  that  we  expect  of  them  -  the  mrintenance  of  an 
adeouate  supply  of  light  and  air.  The  limited  amount  of  light 
and  air  that  might  have  been  provided  was  shut  off  further  by 
the  overhanging  upper  stories  that  in  some  cases,  where  there 
were  many  stories,  extended  so  far  over  the  street  that  in- 
habitants of  houses  on  opposite  sides  of  the  street  could         . 
easily  reach  across  the  little  space  that  was  left  between  them.  '^°J 

Streets  then,  poor  r,s  suppliers  of  the  facilities  ^ve  expect 
streets  to  supply  were  utilir^ed  for  purposes  of  raanufacture,  of 


134)  Green,  Town  Life,  II,  30,  31. 
135j  Ibid,  II,  29. 

136)  Coultcn,  Social  Life,  330,  from  Cooper  Ar- nals  pf^  Cambridge, 
I,  154. 

137)  Eberstadt,    42. 

138)  Rogers,   Vork  and  TJages ,    111.      (Also    other  authors). 

-81- 


of  trade,  ever,  for  residence  if  v/a  interpret  the  encroachment^ 
on  street  space  oy  the  upper  rtories  of  dv^ellings  as  utilization 
of  street  area. 

The  streets  were  also  used  for  another  purpose  that  seems 
strange  to  us.   They  were  used  for  the  dissemination  of  news  - 
they  tool:  the  place,  to  a  certain  extent,  of  newspapers  and 
postoffices.  The  meetings  at  the  town  hall  and  the  meetings  of 
the  court  v;ere  cried  in  the  streets;  court  cases  were  announced 
by  the  town  crier,  and  the  probation  of  wills;  ordinances  and 
royal  proclamations  were  called  on  the  streets.  Advertising  of 
plays,  minstrels,  etc.  was  done  by  crying  through  the  streets.    / 

y.  Public  Services  and  Public  Utilities . 

The  condition  of  the  streets  and  the  uses  to  which  they 
were  put  were  largely  due  to  a  lack  of  what  v/e  know  as  public 
services  and  public  utilities.   Some  of  these  things  began  to 
be  supplied  as  the  Middle  Ages  advanced. 


Uil/XCS        UJ.U         out,        V.'JiJ..       UX        ;i    lyA  =t    u       JJl^WiJig,       w^i-^jr 

;ntury  as  is  evident  from  dates  given  by  HUllman 
bologna  1241;  iiodena,  1262;  Padua,  1265.-1-42)  in 


A.  Street  Paving.   The  paving  of  streets,  for  example,  begins 
toward  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century.   Paris  wes  the  first  of 
the  great  cities  to  pave  its  streets  in  1184^-°^  or  1185.-^^-^ 
Even  the  Italian  cities  did  the  work  of  street  paving  only  in 
the  thirteenth  cei 
riorence,  1236;  Be 

Germany,  Augsburg  paved  its  streets  in  1415,  after  a  citizen 
had  made  a  beginning  before  his  ov^x^   house,  Regensburg  in  1403, 
and  Nuremberg  a  little  earlier. ^^3/  London  was  the  last  of  the 
great  cities  to  pave  its  streets,  in  14? 7;  and  other  English 
tovvrns  followed  its  example  in  the  fifteenth  century. ^^"^^   Even 
when  the  paving  was  done,  it  v/as  not  alv/ays  by  the  town.   The 
act  of  Parliament  for  the  paving  of  Southampton,  for  example, 
required  each  citizen  to  pave  before  his  own  door  as  far  as  the 
middle  of  the  street, ^-^  and  the  citizens  were  quite  generally 
required  to  work  upon  the  streets  as  well  as . the  harbors  or 
dykes,  if  the  town  happened  to  have  them.-^^*^) 

B.  Street  Cleaning-  SoM/erage .   As  v;e  have  seen,  street  cleaning 
service  was  pr?.ctically  unknown.   Garbage  that  cluttered  the 
streets  might  be  eaten  by  the  dogs  and  pigs.  T^'aste  water  flowed 
into  the  gutters  which  night  be  in  the  middle  of  the  street  v/ith 
the  sides  sloping  toward  it.   The  absence  of  paving  allowed  much 
of  the  v;a.ter  to  soak  through.   Only  a  heavy  rain  gave  anything 
like  a  gener-?.i  cleaning  and  in  dry  s.asons  conditions  became 


139)  Green,  Town  Life,  I;  3 61-^ 

140)  Eberstadt,    56. 

141)  Htillraan,    IV.    37-38. 

142)  Ibid. 


143)  Ibid. 

144)  Green,  Town  Life ,  I,  18  (note);  Htillman,  IV,  37 

145)  Green,  I,  18,  note. 

146)  Ibid.,  I,  141-3. 

-82- 


very  bad.^'^'^   Occasional  effcrtt;  at  cleaning  up  v/ere  made  -  for 
example,  the  order  of  the  chancellor  of  the  University  of 
Cambridge  already  cited,  and  a  law  of  Richard  II  of  England 
passed  in  1388  ordering  town  officers  throughout  his  kingdom 
to  clean  their  toT'ns  of  all  that  could  corrupt  and  infect  the 
air  and  bring  disease. ^^S)   Toward  the  end  of  the  period  there 
is  a  beginning  of  sewer  construction  -  often  at  first  as  a 
private  undertaking.   Such  was  the  construction  of  a  sewer  at 
Canterbury  in  1485  by  V/illiam  Pratt  at  his  ovm  expense. -^i^ J 

C.  Water  Supply.   The  water  supply  for  domestic  purposes  v/as  secured 
'chiefly  from  the  wells  that  stood  in  the  gardens  behind  the 
houses.   For  industrial  purposes  a  larger  supply  was  needed, 
v/hich  Was  obtained  from  some  stream  -  often  by  diverting  part  of 
it  through  damming.   This,  v/hen  done  by  the  artisans  themselves, 
had  sometimes  dicastrous  effects.   The  cities  sometimes  undertook 
such  work,  especially  those  that  had  traditions  of  like  service 
in  the  old  Roman  days.   Hflllman  names  some  such  tovms  that  es- 
tablished water  service;  Milan,  1179;  Siena,  1193;  Cremona,  1235; 
Como,  1257;  Modena,  1259;  Parma,  1283-85;  London,  1236;  Colmar, 
1292.150} 

D.  Street  Lighting.   Street  lighting  as  a  public  service  did  not 
exist  -  it  came  in  mostl^^  in  the  sixteenth  century  after  the  end 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  though  London  had  d.one  something  in  this 
direction  in  the  fifteenth  century. 151)   Citizens  who  ventured 
into  the  streets  had  to  provide  their  own  lighting  by  carrying 
lanterns,  and  it  is  unlikely  that  they  would  often  venture  at 
night  into  the  streets  that  have  been  described.  Beside  the 
accidents  that  might  occur  through  the  condition  of  the  streets, 
they  might  also  expeqt  the  attacks  of  marauders,  who  could  easily 
perpetrate  their  crimes  in  the  darkness  that  prevailed.   The 
Christmas  custom  of  burning  candles  in  our  windows  until  they  are 
entirely  consumed,  to  v/hich  we  rather  sentimentally  cling,  appears 
to  have  a  far  from  sentimental  origin.   A  London  ordinance  of 
1405  orders  an  extra  T;atch  put  on  for  Christmas,  which  was  to 
allow  no  "people  with  visors  or  false  faces"  to  go  about,  and 

it  further  orders  "that  on  the  outside  of  every  house  that  is 
upon  the  high  streets  and  lanes  of  the  said  city,  every  nighty 
during  the  solemn  Eeast  aforesaid,  a  lantern  shall  be  hung,  with 
a  lighted  candle  therein,  the  same  to  burn  so  long  as  it  iTiay 
last."  152) 

E.  Police  Protection.   Police  protection,  such  as  it  was,  v;as 

provided  by  the  town  watcij,  made  up  of  citizei'"  who  took  their 
turns  at  tliis  service. 1^3)  This  was  pxobably  not  a  loved  duty, 
for  Luchaire  mentions  a  v/atch  and  a  counter  watch  -  those  serving 
in  the  latter  were  to  see  that  the  former  did  their  duty.-^^) 


147)  Ticknor,    60. 

148)  12  Richard  II,    cap.    13. 

149)  Green,    I,    19,    20. 

150)  Htillman,    IV,    39. 

151)  Kiillman,    IV,    15. 

152)  Coulton,    332. 

153)  Green,    I,    132-3;   Luchaire,    IJ 

154)  Luchaire,    182-3. 

-83- 


\o 


The   efforts   of    the  roembers   of  the  watch  in  the  dark  streets 
were   not  very  effectual,    especially  v/hen  the   offenders  were   on 
horse  -  a  nunber   of  French,    German  and  Italian  tovi/ns   used  the 
device   of  stretching  chains    a.cross   tlieir  streets  at   night   to 
prevent   the  passage   of  riotous   horseinen.  155) 

F.  Fire  Protection.      Protection   from  fire  v.-as   largely   in   the 
effort   for   xire  prevention.      The  curfev/  required   the    covering 
01    fires   at  eight   or  nine   o'clock.  156}      The   tovm  authorities 
urged   the  substitution   of   stone   for  v;ood,157)   and   in   the 
fifteenth  century  we   find  orders    for   the  substitution   of  tiles 
for  thatch  as   roofing.  158)     'v/hen  a  fire  actually  broke   out   the 
chief  method  of   dealing  with   it  v/as   to    tear   dov/n  the   burning 
building,    and  the   alderman's   hook  was  an  instrument   intended 
for   liiis  purpose.  159)     Disastrous    fires  v;ere  very  frequent. 

G.  Other   Services .     ^xile   the  public   services  which  we   expect  were 
perforued  so  badly  or  not  at  all,    other  services  were  given.    The 
tov;n  ran  its    own  mill.lSC)    it  often  ran  public   ovens,    brewhouses, 
and  bakehouses,  ISl)    it   sometimes   undertook  the  purchase   of    the 
supply  of  grain   for   the  whole   town.  162)      Entertainment  was    also 
provided  at   tov/n  expense  by  waits,   minstrels,    shovjers    of   animals, 
and   there  were   public   games,    feasts  and  pageants . 163) 

VI.      Regulati  on  of  Use   of  Land. 

A-   Public  Land.      That   some   regulation  of    the  use   of   land  developed 
we  have   seen  through  incidental  references.      These  may  be   con- 
sidered under   two  headings:    regulation  of  the  use   of   public   land 
and  regulation  of   the  use   of  private   land.      "Ue  have  noted  cases 
of  prohibition  of   the  use   of   the  streets   for    the   disposal   of 
refuse.      Such   regulations   are  met  v/ith  more    frequently  as    time 
advances.      Htlllman,   who  has   studied  the   ordinances   of   German, 
French  and  Italian  cities,   has   found  orders    for    clearing  the 
streets    of  structures   that  were  built   in   front   of  houses,    for 
cleaning   of   drains;    orders   prohibiting  the    running  of  pigs    on 
the   streets,    the   casting   of  refuse   into    the    streets,    the    throwing 
of    dirty  water   from  windows.     Butcher  and    fish  dealers  must  not 
soil    the  streets  with   their  wares,    leather  workers,    fullers,    and 
dyers  must  not  v/ork  on   the   street  and  must   not  let   the  v/ater   from 
their   shops    out  until  evening;    flax  and  hemp  must   not  be  broken 
on  the  streets. 164) 


155)  Hilllman,    IV,    15   (Marseilles,   Aachen,    Siena,    Parma, 
Regensburg) . 

156)  Ticknor,    59. 

157)  Ibid.,    64. 

158)  Coulton,    518. 

159)  Green,    I,    193-4;    Ticknor,    64. 

160)  Ashley,   Zc,   Hist.    II,    32,    33;    Cunningham,    Outlines ,    55-6. 
161|    Ashley,    3c.    Hist. ,    II,    40,    41. 

162)  Gibbins,    Ind.    in  3ng. ,    97;   Ashley,   Ec..   Hist.    II,    53. 

163)  Green,    I,    145. 

164)  Httllman,    IV.    40,    41,    42. 

-84-  * 


B.  Private  Land.  The  use  of  private  property  is  also  regulated  to 
some  extent.   Leather,  v/ool.  cloth  and  hides  must  not  be  washed 
v/ithin  the  city  limits,  "but  at  appointed  places  outside  the 
v/alls  in  certain  continental  cities.^^^S)  English  butchers  -were 
prohibited  from  doing  the  actual  slaughtering  of  animals  within 
the  ■►7alls  of  a  town  in  1487.1^6)  Dung  pits  must  be  of  a  certain 
depth, -67)  pig  styes  must  not  be  built  in  front  of  the  houses. 16b) 

Citizens  v/ere  required  to  observe  certain  regulations  for 
fire  prevention. 169)   An  evidence  of  this  regulation  in  London 
in  1302  is  found  in  the  record  of  the  agreement  of  Thomas  Bat 
vath  the  city: 

"1302  Thomas  Bat  came  before  John  le  Blund,  Mayor  of 
London,  and  the  Alderman,  and  bound  himself,  and  all  his  rents, 
lands,  and  tenements,  to  keep  the  City  of  London  indemnified 
from  peril  of  fire  and  other  losses  which  rnigiit  arise  from  his 
houses  covered  with  thatch,  in  the  Parish  of  St.  Laurence 
Candelwykstrete;  and  he  agreed  that  he  would  have  the  said 
houses  covered  with  tiles  about  the  Feast  of  Pentecost  then  next 
ensuing.   And  in  case  he  should  not  do  the  Sd-me,  he  granted  that 
the  Mayor,  Sheriff,  and  bailiffs,  of  London,  should  cause  the 
said  houses  to  be  roofed  with  tiles  out  of  the  issues  of  his 
rents  aforesaid. "170) 

London  had  a  building  act  as  early  as  1189  containing 
seme  stringent  provisions  as  to  what  kind  of  houses  men  might 
erect. I'i'l)   Eberstadt  believes  that  there  was  in  German  cities 
much  more  regulation  of  building  than  appears  in  the  public 
records,  because  of  the  fact  that  building  was  a  matter  of  gild 
regulation  and  the  regulations  of  the  gilds  were  not  written 
down  until  the  fifteenth  century. l'i'2)   He  has  found  ordinances 
in  Cologne  and  Sachsenspiegel  limiting  the  height  of  houses;! '^-^j 
there  were  regulations  against  leaving  lots  made  vacant  by 
fires,  without  buildings  -  the  owner  had  either  to  build  or  to 
sell. 174)   This  provision  was  not  as  harsh  as  it  seems  because 
of  the  ease  of  housebuilding  due  to  the  presence  of  material  for 
it  in  the  town  common  forests. 175)   He  finds  that  in  the 
fourteenth  century  an  expropriation  lav;  was  developed  and  used 
especially  for  extending  the  walls  and  ditches  in  the  frequent 


165)  K-allman,    IV,      40-41. 

166)  Green,    Town  Life,    II,    32. 

167)  Hilllman,    IV,    40,    41. 

168)  Bax,    133. 

169)  Hiillman,    IV,    33;    Coulton,    318,    quoting  Riley,   Memorials   of 
Lonuon  and   London  Life,    46. 

170)  Coulton,   Social  Life,    318,    from  H.T.    Riley's  Memorials   of 
London  and  London  Life,    46. 

171)  Pollock  &  Maitland,    I,    644. 

172)  Eberstadt,    56. 

173)  Ibid. 

174)  Ibid. ,54. 

175)  Ibid. ,    55. 

-85- 


expansions    of  the   to-.vns ,    as  well  as   for  street  building  and 
for   the   expansion   cf   the   cities. 176]      He   says    that   the  Middle   Ages 
recognized  the  whole   of   city  building  as  a   problem  of  settlement 
and  that  everything   is   subordinated  to   this   great  purpose; 
regulation   of  everything   -    from  trade   in  land   to   city   expansion- 
must  adapt  itself   to    this. ^'^'^  J 

VII .    Taxation.    Land  Value   and  the  Real  Estate  Business. 

Taxation.   7/e  have  seen  that   public   services  vere    few,    that   of 
those   there  were,   many  were  provided  by  the   citizens  working 
together;    hence    the  need  for   taxes    for  town  purposes  v/as   small.-"  ^^ 
The  power   of  taxation  was    not  ex^^ressly  granted  in   the  charters 
of  English  tov/ns   before   the   time' of  Edward  I.      If  they  wished  to 
repair   their  walls,   bridges   or  streets,    they  had   to   apply  to   the 
king  for  a  grant   of  murage,    pontage   or  pavage.179)      This   process 
recognized  the   right   of   the  king   to   tax  his   boroughs;    and  to   this 
right   he   continued  to    cling.      Pollock  and  Maitland  say.  of   the 
English   tov/ns,    that   the  burgher's    duty   of  paying  "scot  and  lot" 
v/i  til  his   fellows   came  home   to   him  chiefly,    if   not    solely,    as  a 
duty  of  contributing  tov/ard  sums   exacted  from    the  borough  by  an 
outside  power. 180) 

Since  the  burgesses  were   collectively  responsible  for   taxes, 
any  revenues   they  had  mdght  be  applied  to  the   payment  of    the    tax. 
The  town  had  regular  revenues   from  the   tolls   it   imposed  on  out- 
siders   (v/hich  were  no   inconsiderable   resource ),  181)    from  the 
profits   of  the   courts    (an   important    financial   asset   in  the  Middle 
Ages),    and   from   the  burgage   rents.      If  these    sources   could  not 
pay  what  was   exacted,   a  tax  levy  might  be  made,   but  this  was 
usually  levied  on  the  burgesses    in  proportion   to   their   goods 
and  chattels,    and  v/as   not   a  land   tax.  182)      Taxes  were    sometimes 
assessed  ;n  the  various  mercantile   or   industrial  companies 
according   to    their   standing.      However,    a  house   tax  v/as  also 
levied  at   times    -   not  as  a  percentage^of   the  value   of   the  house, 
but  as  a  hearth   tax  or   chimney  tax. 183)      Early  in  the   fifteenth 
century   special    taxes  were    imposed  occasionally  on  land   ovmers 
and  holders    of    rent   charges,    which  were   to   develop  later   into 
forms    of  an   income   taz.lo'l) 

It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  these  taxes  v/ere  not 
the  regular  taxes  v/ith  ■which  ^'e  are  familiar,  but  were  imposed 
at   irregular    intervals  .      The    incom.e  f  torn  the    royal   domain  and  the 


176)  tTDeret-r.ut,  53- 

177)  Ibid. ,  56.  ' 

178)  Pollock  &  Maitland,  I,  647-8. 

179)  Ibid. ,  646. 

180)  Ibid. ,  647-8. 

181)  Ibid. ,  648. 

182)  Pollock  S:  Maitland,  I,  663-4;  Palgrave,  Dictionary  of 
Political  Economy.  "Taxation." 

183)  Cunningham,  Y/est.  Civ.  ,  II,  93;  Palgrave,  Dictionary, 
"Taxation." 

184)  Palgrave,  Dictionary,  "Taxation." 

-86- 


feudal  revenues  covered  most  of  the  needs  of  the  stat.e,  and 
taxation  was  resorted  to  only  occasionally. 

An  interesting  circumstance  was,  that  if  the  town  fell  in 
arrears  in  its  pa^r^ents  of  rents  or  taxes,  the  king  could  pro- 
ceed against  all  the  burgesses  or  against  any  burgess  for  the 
amounts  due.   The  principle  would  seem  to  be  that  the  borough 
was  responsible  for  its  ne;abers  and  that  any  member  v/as 
responsible  for  the  v/hole  borough  -  a  principle  similar  to  that 
used  in  medieval  trade  retaliations .18^/ 

The  finances  of  the  French  communes  seem  to  have  been 
less  v;ell  administered  than  thos--  of  the  English  towns.   They 
derived  their  revenues  from  public  property  (very  little),  the 
proceeds  of  the  courts,  some  indirect  taxes,  and  some  direct 
taxes  imposed  at  irregular  intervals.   Their  receipts  were  not 
always  equal  to  their  expenditures,  and  they  resulted  to  the 
disastrous  expedient  of  contracting  loa.ns  which  frequently 
reduced  them  to  a  bankruptcy.   This  bankrupt  condition  was  one 
of  the  factors  contribui". ing  to  the  fall  of  French  towns  f^orn 
their  free  condition,  v/hich  laf^ted  only  from  1130  to  1350,  ^^o) 
the  other  important  factor  being  the  strength  of  the  rising 
French  monarchy.   Luchaire  says,  in  justice  to  the  towns,  that 
,   the  expenses  which  ruineu  them  were  the  payments  exacted  from 
vdthout;  but  he  also  says  that  the  towns,  like  other  medieval 
gruups,  ignored  or  misunderstood  economic  lav/s.l87) 

Luchaire  also  gi\-es  figures  for  the  value  of  the  collective 
rents  paid  by  different  French  towns  in  the  thirteenth  century, 
v/hich,  if  v/e  had  figures  shov;ing  the  nature  and  extent  of  the 
property,  might  give  us  some  idea  of  its  value. ^^S)   It  -".vould 
probably  be  a  fruitless  task,  however,  to  estimate  in  any  none:, 
standard  the-  value  of  real  property  in  the  Middle  Ages,  because 
of  the  difference  betv;een  the  purchasing  pov;er  of  money  then 
and  now,  as  well  as  variation  in  its  purchasing  pov/er  during 
that  period. 

B.  Land  Values .  YJhen    it  is  remembered  that  the  ground  rent  of  the 
original  owners  was  fixed  a,nd  unchangeable  it  will  be  seen  that 
any  increase  in  the  value  cf  real  property  would  fall  to  the 
buildings.  189)  'r;^^^   value  of  -any  building,  compared  with  others, 
would  depend  on  its  own  qualities  -  whether  it  was  nev;  or  old, 
large  or  small,  etc.,  and  also  on  the  rent  of  the  ground  on  v;hich 
it  stood.   If  the  rent  of  this  was  high,  the  value  of  the  house 
v/as  less  in  proportion;  if  the  ground  rent  was  low,  the  value  of 
the  building  was  high.  190 )   Arnold  ex<-jiiined  hundreds  of  deeds, 

185)  Pollock  &  Maitland.  563-4. 

186)  Green,  I,  29;  Luchaire,  288  fi. 

187)  Luchaire,  204,  2C5. 

188)  Ibid. ,  197. 

189)  Eberstadt,  46,    47. 

190)  Arnold,  209. 

-87- 


transfers,  etc  in  Geri:ian  cities  and  icund  v.'ide  variation  in 
the  ratio  between  the  value  cf  the  buildings  and  the  figure  of 
the  ground  rent.   Ke  found  cases  where  tt.e   value  of  the  building 
was  not  tv/ice  the  figure  of  the  ground  rent,  other  cases  in  which 
it  was  a  thousand  times  as  nuch.^^'l) 

Concerning  the  value  of  real  property  as  an  investment 
little  information  has  been  brought  to  light.   Sberstadt  speaks 
of  people  v/ho  regularlv  let  houses  to  others  as  early  as  the 
thirteenth  century»192l  and  if  this  was  done,  there  must  have 
been  a  profit  in  it.   In  England  the  letting  of  houses  was 
probably  not  so  profitable,  for  from  the  earliest  times  the 
"land  ovmer  in  the  country  or  house  owner  in  the  city  made  all 
permanent  improvements  and  did  all  repairs. 193)  Rogers  cites 
the  case  of  town  property  owned  by  ITew  College  that  should  have 
given  a  revenue  of  45  L  9s  6d  in  1453,  but  which,  because  of 
repairs  and  other  expenses,  returned  to  the  College  only  3  L  6s . 
He  says  that  the  possession  of  house  property  during  the  fifteenth 
century  and  for  more  than  two  and  a  half  centuries  thereafter  was 
not  the  source  of  profit  that  it  has  since  become. 

Real  Estate  Business.   In  German  cities  there  were  people 
regularly  engaged  in  the  bus  iness  of  buying  and  selling  real 
estate,  and  there  was  soiue  speculation  in  land  when  it  was 
changed  over  from  agricultural  to  urban  use.  for  it  v/as  clearly 
recognized  that  there  was  an  increment  in  value  and  this  was 
regularly  counted  upon,  though  after  the  land  passed  into  urban 
use  no  further  increment  could  be  secured,  due  to  the  system  of 
fixed  ground  rents  and  separation  of  property  in  land  from 
property  in  buildings . 194 j 

Conclusion- 
Transition.   It  would  be  interesting,  if  time  permitted,  to 
trace  these  points  through  the  period  of  transition,  through  the 
great  changes  that  took  place  in  the  sixteenth  century,  when 
the  medieval  tov/ns ,  having  had  their  day,  either  were  trans- 
formed to  meet  new  conditions  or  fell  into  unimportant  positions 
in  the  ranks  of  cities.   The  walls  and  fortifications  were  no 
longer  useful  in  an  age  of  gunpov/der  and  cannon,  the  gilds  with 
their  narrow  regulations  were  out  of  date  in  a  commercial  world 
that  stretched  across  the  Atlantic,  in  which  nations  instead  of 
cities  contended  for  supremacy.   Some  of  the  old  tovms  adapted 
themselves  to  new  conditions  and  maintained  their  importance,  but 
the  story  of  urban  life  in  the  sixteenth  century  is  that  of  the 
grov/th  of  new  industrial  centers  in  tne  suburbs  or  on  manorial 
estates  rather  than  of  any  increased  prosperity  in  the  towns 
organized  according  to  the  old  model. 195)  The  great  day  of  the 
medieval  tovm  v/as  over  -  it  must  becom.e  a  new  tov/n  with  a  new 
organization  or  sink  into  insignificance. 

ISl)  Arnold,  209. 

192)  Eberstadt,  46. 

193)  J.E.  Thowld  Rogers,  Economic  Interpretation  of  History  (:^ev/ 
York,  1888).  1S8. 

194)  Eberstadt,  46. 

195)  Cunninghaia,    Outlines,    68;   Gibbins,    Ind.    In  Eng .    146-148. 

-88- 


INSTITUTE  FOP.  RESEARCH  IN  LAND  EC0N0!1ICS 


UHBAN  LAND  ECONOMICS 
Selection  of  Urban  Sites 

R.  il.  "Whifbeck,  A.B. 

Professor  of  Geography 
University  of  Wisconsin 


"UNDER  ALL,  THE  LAND" 


"My  own  conviction  has  long  teen  that 
the  land  question  far  transcends  any  re- 
stricted field  of  economi-S  and  tha.t  it 
is  fundamental  to  national  survival  and 
national  welfare.   It  is  truly  a  problem 
calling  for  statesnanship  of  the  broad- 
est type."  -  ProfesFor  Frank:  A-  Fetter. 


larch  14,  1922. 
THE  UHBAN  SITE  AS  RELATED  TO  COl.OrEP.CE 

Professor  Sly:   Ve  come  to  the  selection  of  the  urban  site  in 
our  course  and  Professor  "VilhitTDeclc  has  very  kindly  responded  to  the 
invitation  to  talk  to  us  this  week  on  that  subject.   I  know  you 
all  are  going  to  appreciate  v/hat  he  has  to  say. 

PROEESSOR  VMITBECK:   My  interest  in  this  subject  arises  from 
a  geographic  interest  and  ray  discussions  will  be  raainly  built 
around  geographic  concepts. 

1.  American  cities  have  no  long  historical  past  as  European 
cities  have.   The  grov/th  of  existing  European  cities  has  been 
accel.erated  or  retarded  by  an  endless  series  of  political  and 
historical  influences.  American  cities  have  almost  no  past.  They 
have  all  gror/n  up  in  response  to  very  much  the  same  influences  and 
they  are  among  themselves  far  more  h-  .ogeneous  than  European  cities. 
There  are  variations  among  them,  but  these  variations  are  within 
relatively  narrow  limits. 

2.  All  .American  cities  of  much  consequence  have  grown  up  in 
response  to  tv/o  sets  of  geonomic  forces  which  may  be  termed  (l)  the 
commercial,  and  (2)  the  industrial* 

3.  State  capitals  are  usually  located  by  other  influences, 
usually  the  demand  for  centrality;  and  a  few  cities  (Atlantic  City, 
Los  Angeles)  for  special  reasons. 

4.  Host  American  cities  that  ha.ve  had  a  vigorous  grov/th  owe 
that  grov/th  to  the  same  general  causes;  they  are  either  (l)  at 
focal  points  on  natural  routes  of  travel  and  traffic,  or  (2)  they 
have  become  focal  points  in  our  railv/ay  net. 

5.  Men  collect  in  cities  for  (l)  protection  (in  the  past); 
(2)  politics  (not  so  much  in  the  U.S.)  (3)  pleasure;  (4)  profit. 

6.  Nearly  all  American  cities  began  as  local  centers  for 
conducting  buying-and-selling  operations;  centers  for  collecting 
and  shipping  the  products  of  the  region,  and  for  receiving  and 
distributing  goods  demanded  by  the  region, — laiddlemen's  centers. 

7.  Sites  favorable  for  such  a,ctivities  were:  (a)  advantageous 
points  along  the  v/ater  courses  used  by  explorers,  pioneers,  and 
settlers:  (b)  points  convenient  for  the  fur  trade  '(Montreal, 
Detroit);  (c)  places  selected  for  a,rmy  posts,  because  of  their 
strategic  location  (Chicago,  Green  Bay,  Prarie  du  Chien);  (d)  foca-1 
points  along  the  lines  followed  by  the  "V/estward  mcveraenf'  (Pitts- 
burg, Cincinnati,  Detroit,  Milwaukee,  St.  Louis);  (e)  Junction 
points  v/hich  facilitated  the  collecting  and  forwarding  (usua.lly  by 
water)  of  pioneer  products,  and  the  retiirn  distribution  of  needed 

-90- 


goods  (points  on  the  main  v/aterY/ays ) .   All  of  these  fall  into  one 
general  class,  namely,  focal  points  on  routes  of  travel  and  tratiic. 

8.  Such  sites  v/ould  be--for  inland  cities;  (a)  at  the 
junctions  of  rivers  (or  valleys) --Albany.  Pittsburg,  St.  Louis, 
Cincinnati;  (b)  At  the  mouths  of  streams  f levying  into  the  Great 
Lalces;  places  offering  harbors  for  the  loading  and  unloading  of 
boats.   Nearly  every  city  or  town  of  any  size  on  the  Lakes  is  at 
the  mouth  of  a  stream.   (c)  Many  of  the  sites  in  (a)  and  (b)  later 
became  the  termini  of  canals  (Cincinnati,  Buffalo,  Cleveland, 
Toledo,  Chicago,  Green  Bay).   (d)  At  important  river  crossings 
(fords,  ferries,  bridges),  at  falls  or  rapids  (Louisville)  o^^at 
important  bends  in  rivers  where  overland  routes  branched  off  xrom 
the  river  (Cincinnati,  Kansas  City).   (e)  (Later)  at  places  v/here 
•water  routes  and  rail  routes  meet.  Per  sea  coast  cities:  vfj 
Natural  harbors--usually  the  drovmed  mouths  of  rivers;  (Duluth, 
Chicago,  Buffalo);  (g)  Still  better,  if  the  river  is  itself  a 
v/aterway  of  some  importance  (Philadelphia);  (h)  and  still  better, 
if  the  harbor  is  the  natural  water  gate  of  a  large  and  productive 
hinterland  capable  of  supplying  and  absorbing  a  large  volume  of 
sea-borne  goods  (New  York). 

BUT,  the  later  and  greater  growth  of  American  cities  has 
been  more  largely  due  to  industrial  than  to  commercial  factors. 

It  is  said  that  men  do  not  build  cities;  they  grow.   There 
is  a  good  deal  of  evidence  that  the  statement  is  correct,  for 
during  the  pioneer  stage  of  our  history  many  real  estate  promoters 
located  so-called  cities  all  through  the  Middle  17est  and  announced 
that  they  were  to  grow  into  metropolises.   Land  was  sold  on  the 
basis  that  the  promoters  had  picked  the  right  spots  and  that 
cities  would  grow  at  these  points.   I  do  not  knov;  how  many  cities 
were  so  planned,  but  I  do  know  that  a  great  many  were.   A  few 
were  successful-  Tlie  mouth  ol'  the  Milwaukee  River  was  deliberately 
picked  by  tv7o  competent  men  as  a  favorable  site  for  a  city,  and 
it  has  justified  the  choice.  Philadelphia  v;as  picked  by  advance 
agents  sent  out  by  miliara  Penn  and  their  choice  has  been  justified. 
Against  these  I  know  of  many  sites  which  did  not  prove  advantageous. 

^at  is  it,  then,  that  makes  certain  sites  advantageous  for 
the  growth  of  cities?  That  depends  somewhat  upon  the  period 
of  history  with  v;hich  we  are  concerned.   I  have  noted  in  my 
outline  that  men  gather  in  cities  for  four  main  reasons:  in  the 
past  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  protection,  and  this,  I  knov/,  has 
been  brou^-'.t  out  in  previous  lectures.   In  South  America  -  in  fact 
throughout  Latin  America  -  you  v;ill  find  that  the  capi-'al  city  of 
the  country  is  invariably  the  principal  city,  and  that  the  pro- 
vincial capitals  are  usually  the  next  most  important.   Latin 
America  has  not  been  developed  by  business  men,  but  largely  by  a 
class  that  v.-e  v/ould  call  politicians;  and  the  cities  are  primarily 
political  centers;  although  a  few  Latin  American  cities  are  out- 
growing this  character;  some,  like  Rio  de  Janeiro  and  Buenos 
Ayres,  are  becoming  commercial  centers.   Secondly,  then,  men  gather 

-91- 


in  cities,    in  Bome    countries,    largely  for  political  purposes    -   to 
hold   office,    to    exercise  authority,    or   to   serve   and  wait   upon  those 
v;ho  hold  office  and  exercise   authority;    others   desire   to  get   into 
office  and  wish  to   he   on  the   ground. 

Thirdly,   men  gather   in   cities   for  pleasure,    and  that    of 
course   applies   to    all   cities.      The   drift  tov/ard  the  city  from  the 
country  Is    quite   largely  a  drift   on  the  part   of   the   people  who 
think  they  can  have  a  better   time   in  the   city.      There   are  more 
opportunities   for   enjoyment  as  v:ell  as   for   profit,    and  the   drift 
tov/ard  the   city   is    in  part   inspired  hy  the  desire   for  pleasure. 
But    in  America  this    is    secondary.      In  America,    I    feel,    the  primary 
motive   is  profit.     Men  go  to    citie-^   to    live  because   they  provide 
the  best   opportunities   for  gaining  wealth. 

I    shall   divide  my  discussion  into    two   lectures,    today   dis- 
cussing primarily  those   forces  belonging   to    commerce,    and  next 
Thursday   those  belonging  to    industry,    for  these,    I   think,    are  the 
two   natural   divisions    from  the  geographer's   point   of   view. 

My  study  of  early  American  cities  has   led  me   to   the   conclusion 
that   practically  all   of  our  cities   originated  for   one  and   the  same 
purpose.      They  v/ere    centers    for   conducting  buying-and-selling 
operations.      The   little  pioneer  posts   for   trading  v/ith  the   Indians 
were   in  many  cases   the   forerunners   of  these   cities.      In  this   part 
of   the  Isforthv/est  quite  a  high  proportion  of  our   larger   towns   and 
cities  began  as  fur  trading  posts;    and  the  first   traders   selected 
these  points  because,   by  reason   of  the   topography  and  stream  line 
of   the   country,    certain  places   were    focal  points,    points   upon 
which  trails  and  waterways  naturally  converged.      The   trading  post 
did  not    differ   essentially  in   its   purpose   from  modern  cities. 
Sup-Dose  T/e  take   the   trading  post   established  by   Solomon  Juneau  ac 
Milwaukee.      l/Vhy  was   it   placed  at  Milv/aukee?     The   same   question 
caji  be  applied  to   Green  Bay,   Frarie   du  Chien,    and  any  other  points. 
The   goods  v/hich   the   fur   trader  desired  to   sell  had  to    come   into 
the  country  from  the  East.      They   caiae    in  in   quite   large  q.uantities; 
the   large   canoes   and  schooners   brought  them.      It  was   desirable, 
therefore,    tlaat  these  main   trading  posts  be   on  water  ddep   enough 
to  permit   cargo   canoes   and  schooners   to    land   the   goods.      Secondly, 
the   trails   or  waterT;ay5   connecting  iiith  the  interior  would  naturally 
focus   there,    and  the   Indians   and   traders   just   naturally  led  toward 
these  points. 

TShat  are   the   natural   channels  along  which  such  a  trade  would 
take  place?     Of   course   the  waterwa^^ '.      And  so   an   Indian  trading 
post  was   almost   invariably  at   a  place  wnere  water;^7ays  met,    either 
where   tv/o   strerxas    joined  or  v/here   a  stream  flowed  into  a  lake,    a 
junction  point.      That   simple   analysis   made  by  the   fur  trader   in 
the   pioneer  da,ys    is   essentially   like   that  m£?,de  by  modern  traders 
at  Detroit,    Cleveland,   Ililv/aukee,    or   any   other    city.      T/e   locate 
the   city   at  a  focal  point,    a  point  at  which  routes    converge.   Later 
in  our  history  when  railroads  became    corunon,    the  railroads    in  the 

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level  Miadle   West   could   disregard  topography   somev/hat,    and   so   a 
city   likt;  Minneapolis    could  grow   large  without   "being   on  a   deep 
"waterv/ay.      But   nearly  all   of   our   cities  have  grcwn  up   on  waterways, 
and  have  been   located  where   they  are  because    of  waterways,    and   in 
their   early  history  grevj  on  the   trade   that  waterways   facilitated. 

Let   us   look  at  a  map  shov:ing  the  principal    cities    in   the 
Middle  West.      Here   is    Cliicago ,   Detroit,    Cleveland,    Cincinnati, 
St.   Louis,   Kansas   City,    St.    Paul,  Minneapolis,    Louisville    if  you 
wish,   Buffalo    if   you  go   a  little   farther  east.      Then  besides    those 
larger  cities   on   important  waterways,   we  have  a    few  exceptional 
cases:      Columbus,    Indianapolis  and  Des  Moines  are   exceptional   and 
v;ere  located  because   of   centrality  ■    they  are   capital   cities    that 
have  grown  to   some   size.      These   three   cities  are   exceptional,    for 
as  a  rule   capital   cities  are   located  without  reference  to    com- 
mercial advantages,    centrality  being    the    dominating   idea,    and 
consequently  as  a   rule   capital   cities    do   not   aiaount   to  much 
coiTomercially   in  America.      Talcing   out  these  three   capital   cities, 
none   of   v;hich    is  very  large,    it   becomes   evident   that  v;aterv/ays 
must  have  been   influential   in  deciding  the   location  of  most 
American  cities.      One  group   of   cities    is  the  Mississippi-Missouri- 
Ohio  group   -   the   river  tov/ns  ;    the    other  group   -   the  Great  Lake 
ports. 

The   river   tov/ns   had  the  start.      St.    Louis   was   far  more 
imr-^rtant   than  Chicago  at   one   time;    Cincinnati   was   far  more   im- 
portant   than  Cleveland;   and  Detroit  was  a   post   of   importance   a 
hundred  years   ago,    but  not  an   important   city  until  more   recently. 
The  Mississippi  River  and    its   branches  formed  an    important  waterway 
dov/n   to   the  time   of   the  Civil  War,    and    the   cities   located  on  that 
river  had  more  business   and  grew  more  vigorously   than  any   other 
cities   except    those   on   the   Atlantic   seaboaad.      ITev;   Orleans  was   one 
of   our   great   cities   in  1840   to    1860.      Then   there    came   a  change. 
After   the   Civil  War   there  v/as   a   decline   in  the    importance   of 
river   navigation.      It  went   down,    down,    down,    until   to-day  river 
navigation   is   practically  negligible.     '7ith   the    decline    in  river 
traffic  had  come  a  decline   in  the   importance    of   the  river  tov/ns, 
and   in  the   last   thirty  years   St.    Louis  has   fallen   far  behind 
Chicago,    Cincinnati   far  behind  Cleveland.      Pittsburg  has   changed 
from  a   coraruercial    city   to    a  manufacturing  city,    but   it  has   not 
grown  as   fast  as   Cleveland   and  Detroit.      The   upper   river  cities, 
St.    Paul  and  Minneapolis,    have   ceased  almost  entirely  to  have  any 
connection  with  the  river    traffic;    they  have  become  manufacturing 
cities,    the  benefit  as   far  as   the   river   is    concerned  being   from 
the  ■•water  power,    not  the  waterway.      As   for  Kansas   City,    it  makes 
little   difference  whether  the  Missouri    River   is    uhere   or  not.      The 
Missouri    Pdver   no   longer  has   any   influence    on  the  growth   of  Kansas 
City;      At  present   the   cities    on  the  Great  Lakes    seem   to  many  far 
more   favorable   locations   than    cities    on  the  Mississippi  River. 

All    of   the  river   cities   and    the   lake   ports  have  about    the 
same  principle    involved;    namely,    they   are  focal   points   upon  which 
traffic   routes   converge.      Suppose  we   talce  a   specific  case.      Take 

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the   shore   of  Lake  Michifi;an.      'IThy  is  Milv/aukee   located  just  where 
it   is?     T,hy  not   five  miles   further  north  or    south?     'V.'hy  are  Racine, 
Kenosha,   Hanitowoc,   Green  Bay  at  the  particular  sites   that  they  are? 
We  will  recognise   that  they  might  also   "be  anyivhere   on  the   shore  and 
conceivahly  might  become  focal   points    for   land  routes  and  water 
routes.      V/hy  has  Milwaukee  become  the   principal  port   in  Wisconsin 
on  Lake  Michigan?      A  stream      enters    the  lake   there,    (pointing   to 
the  map)    the  Milwaukee  River,    anotiier   river,    a  very  small   one,    the 
Menominee,    and  still  a  snaller   one,    the  Kinnickinnic,    comes    in 
there.      This    converging   of   streams   led  Solomon  Juneau  to   place  his 
trading  post   there.     But  there  must  have  been  further  advantages. 
Those  rivers   coming    together  form  an   interior  harbor   of   some   size. 
So  Milwaukee    offered  a  little  harbor    at  the  mouth  of   three   con- 
verging  streams,    two   of  which  have  had  some    importance,    the 
liLlwaukee   arid   the  Menominee.      That  was   not  all.      Had  there  been 
nothing  more   than  that,    tliere  might   never  have  been  a   city   of  any 
consequence   at   that  point.      At   the    same   time    that  Milwaukee   was 
bidding    for  business   the   other   lake  ports  v/ere  bidding.      They 
v;ere  seeking   to   liave   the  steamships   from  Buffalo  and  Detroit   land 
at   their  harbors.     But  the    steamships   practically  all  made 
Milwavilcee   their  stopping   point    on  the  way   to   Chicago,  and   there 
were  many  steamships   during  the   period  1840,    1850  and   1860. 
Several   freight  and  passenger  boats   called  at  Milwaukee   every  day. 
Because   of   the   superior  ha-^bor  at   that   particular  point    these 
steamship   lines   selected  that  as  their  point   of    call.      Immigrants 
lariced  there.      Then   sprang  up  a   second  group   of   lines   of  traffic, 
namely   those   into   the   interior,    and  out  from  Milwaukee  there 
spread  fan-like   trails,    roads   and  plank  roads   —   all  focusing  upon 
this   lake   port.      They  were  built   to    focus  there  because   the  best 
steamship  service  was  provide-^,   there.      So   for  a   number   of  years 
Milwaukee  v/as  the   focal  point   for   a  half   dozen  important   roads 
leading  back  into   the  hinterland.      A  map   of  Milv/aukee   shows   the 
old  roads,    some   south,    some   north,    and  some   toward  Madison.      They 
are    still   the   trunk  highv/ays    of  the   region.      They  viiere  built   to 
reach  the   farming   districts,    to  bring   in  the   farming   products  to 
this  point  at  v^ich  land  routes  met  water   routes.      Y/hat   is    true   of 
Milwaukee   is    true   in  a  general  sense   for   all  these   cities    on  the 
Great  Lakes  and  the  Mississippi   River   and  the   branches    of   the 
Mississippi   River.      They  are   focal  points  where   land  and  water 
routes  meet. 

Take   the   specific   case    of  Chicago.      'Tiy  is    Chicago    just  where 
it   is?     Anybody  looking   at  the  raap    of   the  United  States,   \^ould  say 
that   ov/ihg   to    the   geography  of   the  Middle  West  a  city   of    importance 
ought   to    grov/  up  at   the  south  end  of  Lake  Michigan-      Chicago   is 
several  miles    to    the   north  of   that.      Again   a  simvle  matter!      Into 
the   lake  at  Chicago   comes   a  small   ri\'-er,    the  Chicago   River.      Its 
head  lays    close   to   the  head   of   another   river,    the   Illinois,    that 
flo'jvs    into    the  Missis^sippi .      The   Chicago   and  the   Illinois   Rivers 
were   important   canoe  routes    in  the   pioneer   days.      It  was    the  best 
portage    route   from  the   Great  Lakes   to    the   Southern  Mississippi. 
Ye  had  a  similar  route   in  Wisconsin--    from  the   Fox  River   to    the 
Portage   Canal,    across    to    the  Wisconsin  River.      This  was    important 

-94- 


for  a  \vhile  and  gave  Green  Bay  high  hopes.  Green  Bay  was  quite 
sure  at  one  tirae  that  it  v/as  going  to  pass  Chicago.   Read  the 
old  newspapers  and  you  find  that  there  was  no  doubt  that  this 
city  was  destined  to  be  the  great  city  of  the  "^est,  because  the 
people  of  Green  Bay  thought  that  the  Fox-'^.'i  scons  in  v/aterway  was 
the  best  route  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  Mississippi  and  hence 
that  their  town  v;ould  have  to  be  the  great  outlet  of  the  West. 

The  portage  and  the  canoe  route  specifically  determined  the 
location  of  the  site  of  Chicago.   I  want  to  nake,  then,  the 
distinction  betv;een  what  may  be  called  the  general  or  regional 
aite  on  the  one  hand  and  the  specific  or  local  site  on  the  other. 
The  regional  site  would  be  satisfactory  for  Chicago  anyivhere  at 
the  southern  end  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  it  would  not  make  much 
difference  v/here  it  v;as  located.  But  the  specific  site  of  Chicago 
was  determined  by  the  location  of  the  small  river.   So  v;ith 
Milv/aukee. 

Passing  to  point  7  in  the  outline  (l  have  covered  previous 
ones  in  a  somev/hat  general  way)  v;hat  are  the  favorable  sites  for 
these  activities  that  we  call  trade?   I  said  at  the  outset  that 
I  believe  substantially  all  our  cities  v/ere  located  at  points 
suited  for  buying- and- selling  operations.   I  v/ant  to  expand  that 
a  little,  and  impress  the  fact  that  that  is  just  what  a  city  is, 
no  natter  whether  it  is  a  manufacturing  or  a  commercial  city.   It 
is  a  place  where  men  gather  to  buy  and  sell.   Commonly  we  think  of 
buying  and  selling  as  dealing  in  commodities.  Men  buy  and  sell  two 
classes  of  things  -  commodities  and  services;  and  the  buying  and 
selling  of  services  is  just  as  important  as  the  buying  and  selling 
of  commodities.  "Why  do  manufacturers  nearly  always  select  a  city 
in  which  to  build  a  plant?   Is  it  because  they  can  buy  commodities 
mpre  cheaply  in  a  big  city?  Not  necessarily.   It  costs  just  about 
as  much  to  get  the  commodities  in  Milwaukee  as  it  would  to  get 
them  in  Oshkosh  or  Waukegan.   It  is  not  because  manufacturers  can 
buy  materials  more  cheaply  in  a  city  like  Milwaukee,  but  because 
in  cities  they  can  buy  services  to  better  advantage.  You  can  buy 
many  kinds  of  services  that  you  cannot  buy  in  a  small  tovm.   A 
manufacturer  needs  an  infinite  variety  of  services  and  of  goods, 
but  he  locates  in  the  city  primarily  becaiise  in  the  city  only  can 
he  get  the  variety  and  kinds  of  services  that  he  desires. 

Analyze  this  for  a  moment,   "^tiat  does  a  manufacturing  plant 
need?  A  variety  of  forms  of  labor,  not  only  enough  for  its  needs 
but  a  reservoir  to  be  drawn  upon.   It  needs  banking  service.   At 
certain  seasons  of  the  year  it  needs  to  borrov/  heavily   It  needs 
transportation  services,  not  only  to  convey  goods  in  and  out,  but 
also  to  transport  laborers  to  and  from  the  plant;  street  car 
service;  power  service;  v/ater  service;  police  service.   All  kinds 
of  skilled  laborers,  carpenters,  plumbers,  painters  and  machinists j 
and  so  one  can  go  through  the  v/hole  list  and  readily  see  that  the 
manufacturing  plant  needs  to  buy  services  as  well  as  materials. 
It  cannot  get  the  variety  and  quality  of  service  in  a  small  town 

-95- 


that  It  gets  in  a  large  town,  because  those  who  have  service  to 
sell  go  to  a  good  market  with  their  services.   Where  ^o  t^\^^^^ 
surgeons,  la^vyers.  and  financiers  gravitate?  To  the  city;  because 
there  they  can  sell  their  service  to  the  best  advantage.   The  city 
then  becomes  a  focal  point  where  those  who  have  services  to  sen  go 
and  those  who  v/ant  to  buy  services  go. 

Many  of  our  cities  have  grown  prosperous.   Clearly  then, 
it  is  not  just  one,  two,  or  three  points  that  are  naturally  locai 
centers  for  trade.   There  are  many  such  .points,  but  they  all  poss- 
ess essentially  the  same  fundamental  advantages.   To  be  specific, 
what  are  some  of  the  points  at  which  these  currents  of  trade  will 
converge  and  at  which  the  market  place  will  be  placed,  and  by  the 
market  place  I  mean  the  place  where  men  buy  and  sell  everything, 
services  as  well  as  materials'?  Naturally  these  market  places 
ought  to  be  where  the  greatest  number  of  people  pass,  because  it 
is  true  that  only  v;ith  a  large  number  of  people  and  a  large  tralfic 
can  a  large  business  be  built  up.   So  I  have  listed  under  point  7 
quite  a  number  of  different  kinds  of  cities-   I  need  not  go  over 
these  -  they  are  familiar  to  you.   I  have  summarized  point  7  by. 
the  statement  that  all  of  these  sites  fall  into  one  general  class, 
namely,  focal  points  on  routes  of  travel  and  traffic 

For  inland  cities  such  aites  v/ould  be,  first  of  all,  at  the 
junctions  of  rivers.   It  is  not  essential  that  the  river  be  large, 
but  the  valley  is  important.   Take  the  case  of  the  Mohawk  Valley 
entering  the  Hudson  River  at  Albany.   The  Mohawk  River  was  not  very 
important,  but  the  Mohawk  Valley  is  the  gate-way  of  the  East.  It 
is  the  only  land  in  the  eastern  highland  low  enough  for  a  canal 
between  the  sea  and  the  Great  Lakes,  and  because  Nev/  York  possessed 
this  valley,  Hew  York  was  able  to  build  the  canal  which  joined  the 
sea  with  Lake  Erie.   Pennsylvania  tried  to  build  a  canal  from 
Philadelphia  to  Pittsburg,  but  failed;  Virginia  tried  to  build  a 
canal  to  the  Ohio  River,  but  got  as  far  as  the  Allegheny  Mountains 
and  stopped.  But  the  Mohawk  Valley  made  it  possible  for  New  York 
to  build  the  canal. 

One  time  the  rivers  were   highly  important  in  determining  the 
growth  of  cities;  later  in  the  days  of  railroads  the  valley  may  be 
more  important  than  the  river.   For  example,  most  people  do  not 
think  of  Cincinnati  as  being  the  junction  of  valleys.   It  is  my 
feeling  that  Cincinnati's  growth  is  largely  dependent  upon  the 
particular  site  of  the  city.   Those  of  you  who  know  the  city  will 
know  that  there  is  a  deep  valley.  Mill  Creek  Valley,  coming_ in_ from_ 
the  north,  and  another  extends  to  the  south  in  Kentucky.   Cincinnati 
then  is  at  the  crossing  point  of  the  Ohio  River  and  an  important 
north-south  valley.   That  valley  caused  the  canal  from  Toledo  to 
meet  the  Ohio  at  Cincinnati.   The  city  also  had  a  second  advantage 
in  the  early  days,  nai'aely,  at  a  big  bend  in  the  river.   Immigrants 
coming  down  the  Ohio,  at  that  point  left  the  river  in  many  cases 
and  began  a  land  journey,  because  to  continue  down  the  river  led^ 
them  away  from  thej.r  destination;  the  big  bend  made  a  natural  point 

-96- 


for  leaving  the  river.   So  the  combination  of  conditions  --  the 
Ohio  River,  the  valley  of  Mill  Creek  and  the  "big  bend  --  contri*- 
buted  in  making  Cincinnati  an  important  early  city.   But  now  these 
factors  are  of  less  importance  to  the  city  and  those  advantages 
are  of  less  value. 

Again  crossing  places  are  sites  favorable  to  the  growth 
of  river  towns.   Suppose  you  think  of  a  river,  a  pretty  good 
sized  river,  that  could  not  be  crossed  readily  in  pioneer  days- 
Take  two  points,  say,  fifty  miles  apart;  perhaps  there  was  only 
one  place  where  the  river  could  be  forded;  that  would  become  a 
converging  point  and  pioneer  trails  would  converge  toward  it. 
Such  a  point  afforded  the  site  for  a  town  in  the  early  days.  Go 
back  to  England  and  you  will  find  fords  a  common  site  for  tov/ns, 
and  the  names  of  many  cities  have  the  ending  ford,  because,  before 
days  of  bridges  and  ferries,  fords  were  important.   Sometimes  a 
ferry  was  a  converging  point  instead  of  a  ford,  and  later  a  bridge, 
perhaps.   Then  many  roads  v/ould  still  focus  on  that  point,  to 
cross  the  river. 

Sometimes  rapids  or  falls  in  a  river  became  a  factor  in 
building  up  a  town.   You  have  that  in  the  case  of  Louisville.  For 
the  most  part  the  Ohio  is  free  of  rapids,  but  at  Louisville  there 
are  rapids  of  importance.   So  boats  going  up  or  dovm  the  Ohio 
usually  had  to  unload  their  cargoes  and  carry  goods  around  the 
rapids  and  then  reload.   This  break  in  transportation  made  Louis- 
ville a  stopping  place,  and  Louisville  ov;es  its  position  due  to 
that  break  in  traffic. 

\7ith  the  development  of  our  railway  net,  all  other  influences 
have  become  secondary  to  railroad  influences;  but  railroad  builders 
in  general  chose  to  run  their  lines  to  those  cities  v/hich  had 
already  shown  causes  for  vigorous  grov/th.   Our  railroads  in  the 
Middle  ¥est  date  from  1840,  perhaps  a  little  later,  1850.  litany  of 
our  cities  already  had  a  good  start,  and  the  railroads  selected 
those  cities  v;hich  had  proved  themselves  to  be  business  getters; 
and  so  in  general  the  railway  netv;ork  has  simply  intensified  the 
growth  of  earlier  centers  of  trade. 

I  have  discussed  so  far  cities  located  on  the  interior.   I 
want  to  speak  briefly  of  cities  on  the  Atlantic  coast.   'Vtoat  has 
given  life  and  energy  to  the  coast  cities?  Does  the  principle 
involved  differ  from  the  principle  involved  in  the  "West?  Hot 
at  all.   The  difference  is  simply  this.   On  the  coast,  cities 
on  particularly  good  harbors  were  made  focal  points  just  as 
Milv/aukee  or  Chicago  were  and  the  steajaship  lines  of  the  ocean  con- 
verged at  these  points  just  as  the  lake  steamship  lines  converged 
at  Milwaukee  and  Chicago.   If  the  harbor  besides  being  a  good 
harbor,  had  a  navigable  river  flowing  into  it,  like  the  Hudson, 
then  that  harbor  had  a  double  advantage.   If,  moreover,  this 
valley  vi/as  the  natural  waterway  or  gateway  from  the  hinterland 
to  the  coast,  then  the  city  at  the  mouth  of  this  river  had  the 

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best  advantage  of  all.   And  New  York  City  had  that  triple  ad- 
vantage --  a  harbor  at  the  mouth  of  a  navigable  river  ^which  v/as 
a  gateway  for  a  rich  hinterland.   And  because  Ne-vv  York  had  a 
triple  advantage,  it  got  the  Erie  Canal  and  through  it  a  tremen- 
dous flow  of  traffic  from  the  west.   This  built  up  the  city  of 
New  York  at  the  time  when  Philadelphia  and  Boston  were  competitors 
and  it  gave  Nev/  York  a  lead  which  the  other  cities  have  never  been 
able  to  overcome.   At  the  present  time  you  hear  nothing  but  com- 
plaints about  the  service  at  the  Nev/  York  harbor,  especially 
when  the  St.  Lawrence  waterway  is  being  talked  about.   Everybody 
who  wants  to  advance  the  St.  Lawrence  project  tells  you  of  the 
wretched  conditions  at  New  York  harbor;  yet  in  spite  of  that  New 
York  handles  more  than  half  of  all  the  foreign  trade  of  this 
country.   New  York  gets  this  traffic  because,  back  in  the  period 
when  the  canal  was  everything.  New  York  became  the  established 
focal  point  at  which  steamship  lines  of  the  whole  v;orld  centered; 
whether  the  steamships  come  from  Cape  Tovm  or  Shanghai  or  Liverpool 
or  Genoa  or  Lisbon  or  Rio  de  Janeiro,  they  are  pretty  sure  to  go  to 
New  York.   Ships  go  there  because  in  the  past  New  York  has  become 
the  established  and  recognized  focal  point  for  ocean  trade,  and 
ship  masters  knov;  that  at  New  York  they  are  most  sure  to  get 
return  cargoes,  and  shippers  from  the  interior  know  they  can  get 
frequent  sailings,  and  so  shippers  from  the  Middle  West  put  up 
with  the  disadvantages  of  New  York  because  at  New  York  they  can 
get  the  most  frequent  service  to  all  parts  of  the  world.   Suppose, 
the  Alxis -Chalmers  people  have  twenty-five  shipments  to  go  to 
twenty-five  different  parts  of  the  world.   They  will  send  their 
goods  to  New  York,  because  there  only  they  can  get  a  quick  service 
to  every  part  of  the  world.   So  it  becomes  advantageous  to  con- 
centrate the  foreign  trade  of  a  country  at  one  or  tv/o  or  three 
points  rather  than  distribute  this  foreign  trade  over  a  dozen 
ports.   And  the  tendency  throughout  the  world  is  tov^ard  con- 
centration of  ocean  traffic  at  a  few  points  in  each  country. 

Finally  my  last  statement  on  the  outline.  "BUT,  the  later 
and  greater  growth  of  American  cities  has  been  more  largely  due  to 
industrial  than  to  commercial  factors."   And  next  Thursday  I  shall 
take  up  the  discussion  of  those  influences  which  belong  to  the 
industrial  sites. 


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March  16,  1922. 
THE  URBAN  SITE  AS  RSL.\T3D  TO  WiMJPACTURIHG • 
The  General  or  Rep:ional  Site. 

1.  The  major  influence  in  the  grov;th  of  modern  American  cj  t.i no 
is  manufacturing  --  the  grov/th  of  factories  and  mills  employing 
great  numbers  of  men. 

2.  Successful  manufacturing  in  a  given  place  in  addition  to 
able  management,  involves  (a)  the  economic  assembling  of  materials; 
(b)  the  availability  of  labor;  (c)  ability  to  obtain  power  at 
reasonable  cost;  (d)  an  elastic  supply  of  capital  for  permanent 
and  for  seasonal  needs;  (e)  fair  cost  of  land  and  non-burdensome 
taxes;  (f)  good  transport  facilities  for  distribution  of  products. 
Many  sites  offer  these  advantages,  hence  v;e  have  many  prosperous 
cities . 

5.  Cities  tend  to  specialise  in  certain  lines  of  manufacturing 
for  various  reasons;  (a)  tradition  or  early  start  (textile  centers 
in  Hev;  England);  (b)  special  labor  conditions  (silk  centers  of 
U.J.  and  Penn.j;  (c)  nearness  of  raw  materials  (packing  centers  of 
Middle  V/est,  (Minneapolis);  (d)  important  mining  centers  (Scranton, 
But.e  Binaingham)  ;  (e)  easy  access  to  a  large  consuming  population 
including  facilities  for  export  (eastern  cities  generally). 

4.  Tlie  larger  the  number  of  advantages  possessed  by  an  urban 
site,  the  more  its  growth  is  stimulated,  but  good  transportation  is 
essential  in  all  cases.   Inland  water  transportation,  except  on 
Great  Lakes,  has  ceased  to  be  important. 

5.  In  general,  manufacturing  concerns  locate  in  cities  because 
they  require  a  constant  varied  line  of  services  which  can  best  be 
secured  in  large  centers  of  population. 

6.  There  is  a  marked  tendency  to  locate  new  manufacturing 
plants  just  outside  of  large  cities  because  of  lower  cost  of  land 
and  lov/er  taxes. 

THE  SHEGIPIC  OR  LOCAL  SITE. 

1.  If  the  general  or  regional  site  is  highly  favorable,  as  it 
is  in  the  case  of  Hew  York  and  Chicago,  the  local  or  specific  site 
may  have  many  disadvantages ,  and  yet  maybe  dominantly  advantageous. 
New  York  has  serious  local  problems,  especially  problems  of 
transportation,  and  the  site  of  Chicago  was  a  swamp,  yet  they  have 
prospered  beyond  all  other  American  cities. 

2.  Local  sites  that  are  dominantly  advantageous  may  have  a 
number  of  serious  disadvantages,  and  yet  the  city  may  prosper, 
(a)  Pittsburg  --  narrow  valleys  and  rivers  cause  great  congestion 

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of   railway  lines.      ("b)   Nev;  Orle?.ns--very   lov;;    serious   problem  vath 
water  sunply,    sevage    system,    foundations,   "basements,    etc.    (c) 
Seattle--steep  hills   and  lack   of  level    land  for  business   section, 
(d)    San  Francisco--on  a  peninsula,    preventing  direct  access  by 
most   railroads. 

;aDv.^jttageous  peatuees  of  local  sites 

1.  Room  to  grov;;  preventing  the  undue  rise  of  land  values 
in  the  city  (Philadelphia,  Cleveland,  Detroit). 

2.  Attractive  upland  section  for  residences  and  parks 
(Cincinnati ) . 

3.  Lowland  section  with  inexpensive  land  for  factories  and 
railway  yards  (consider  svyarapy  section  of  Milvraukee  and  Newark). 

4.  Good  drainage  features  (consider  the  sewage  problem  of 
Chicago  and  New  Orleans). 

5-  Pure  and  inexpensive  water  supply  (Great  Lakes  cities). 

6.  Agreeable  and  invigorating  climate  (contrast  northern  and 
southern  cities). 

7.  'J7ater  power  (Minneapolis,  Rochester,  Paterson)  . 

THE  URBAN  SITE  ALTD  LAITO  VALUES 

1.  Land  values  in  general  increase  with  the  grov;th  of  the 
city  in  response  to  law  of  demand  and  supply. 

2.  In  general  the  price  of  Urban  land  depends  either  (a)  upon 
its  earning  power  (store  and  office  building  sites),  or  (b)  upon 
its  pleasure  yielding  pov/er  (desirable  residence  sections).   Con- 
sider Madr^on's  "Square"  and  its  lake  front  land. 

3.  High  land  values  lead  to  skyscrapers  and  apartment  houses, 
to  suburban  development  and  better  means  of  local  transportation. 

4.  The  streets  upon  which  land  in  a  business  section  has  its 
frontage  largely  determines  its  market  value. 

5.  The  future  value  of  a  given  tract  of  urban  land  is 
impossible  to  forecast;  numerous  factors  that  can  not  be  foretold 
v/ill  decide  the  market  value. 

In  the  previous  lecture  I  took  up  some  of  the  natural 
or  geographical  features  of  a  region  v;hich  tends  to  locate 
centers  of  buying  and  selling.   I  pointed  out  that  in  the 
United  States  all  cities  are  young  and  all  have  had  about  the 
same  history;  that  one  particular  influence  has  been  dominant  in 
deciding  whether  cities  should  prosper  or  stagnate.   That  those 

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cities  which  offered  advantagecus  sites  for  buying  and  selling  are 
the  cities  which  have  developed  and  grown  important.   As  I  said  to 
you  in  my  first  lecture,  I  viev;  tliese  things  from  the  standpoint  of 
a  geographer  and  my  analysis  is  of  course  that  of  one  who  sees 
things  through  the  eyes  of  the  geographer  rather  than  the  economist. 
I  do  not  for  a  moment  want  to  magnify  the  importance  of  geographical 
influences.   Ily  emphasis  upon  geographical  factors  is  simply  because 
my  knowledge  and  interest  lie  in  this  field. 

I  divided  cities  into  two  groups  —  (l)  commercial  and 
(2)  industrial  —  out  gave  my  opinion  that  all  of  our  cities,  or 
practically  all,  began  as  comraercial  centers,  places  for  buying 
and  selling  goods  and  services;  bu"^  I  stated  at  the  end  of  my 
talk  that  the  later  growth,  and  the  greater  growth,  of  cities  has 
been  brought  about  by  the  growth  of  manufacturing,  and  so  far  as 
the  number  of  people  concerned  goes,  manufacturing  is  much  more 
responsible  for  bringing  to  a  city  great  numbers  of  people  than 
coi'nmerce  is.   Conimerce  does  not  require  great  numbers.   All  the 
strictly  coraiaercial  activities  of  Milv/aukee,  for  example,  would  not 
require  a  great  number  of  people.   It  is  v;hen  vie   establish 
manufacturing  centers  v/here  a  single  pla.nt  enploys  5,000,  10,000, 
and  in  one  case  50, COO  employees,  that  we  begin  building  up  cities 
on  a  large  scale.   It  seems  "to  me  then  that  we  must  view  the  urban 
site  primarily  as  it  serves  the  needs  and  demands  of  industry.  But 
industry  and  commerce  alv/ays  go  side  by  side.   There  is  no 
strictly  manufacturing  city  v/ithout  commerce;  there  is  no  strictly 
commercial  city  without  industry.  But  a  city  is  sonetimes 
dominantly  one  or  the  other.   For  example,  Gary,  Indiana,  is 
dominantly  a  manufacturing  city,  -lAiiile  Galveston,  Texas,  is  dominant- 
Ij  a  commercial  city.  But  the  majority  of  cities  combine  their 
activities,  and  we  don't  need  to  separate  industries  from  commerce. 

Now,  of  course,  the  growth  of  the  city  and  the  expansion  of 
its  interests  do  not  rest  solely  upon  industry  and  commerce.   There 
are  great  numbers  of  services  to  be  performed  v/hich  are  neither 
commercial  nor  industrial.   I  have  no  figures  in  mind,  but  I  suspect 
that  the  total  number  of  people  in  Chicago  who  are  engaged  in_ per- 
forming services  that  are  neither  strictli^-  commercial  nor  strictly 
industrial,  would  be  about  as  large  as  the  total  number  of  people 
engaged  in  manufacturing  ajid  commerce,  because  all  the  wants  of 
these  people  enga,ged  in  commerce  and  industry  must  be  tai^en  care  of 
and  there  are  multitudes  of  enterprises,  large  and  small,  concerned 
mth  services  private  and  public,  small  and  large,  and  those  people 
vdao  are  engaged  in  performing  legal  service*  medical  service, 
electrical  service,  pliomber  service,  and  every  other  kind  of  service 
is  very  large. 

I  want  to  run  over  the  points  in  the  outline  somewhat  rapidly 
and  reserve  the  lat'oer  part  of  the  hour,  perhaps  the  last  half  of 
the  hour,  for  lantern  slides  which  illustrate  some  of  the  points 
v;hich  I  have  brouglit  out.   I  will  shew  you  slides  of  cities  in  this 
country  and  abroad  and  perhaps  as  much  benefit  will  be  derived  from 

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:o 


them  as  from  the  discussion  of  these  more  or  less  obvious  points. 

I  pointed  out  under  the  second  heading  in  the  outline,  that 
successful  ma.nufacturing  in  a  given  place,  in  addition  to  ahle 
management,  involves  such  other  factors  as 

(a)  The  economical  assemhling  of  materials.  You  would  not 
locate  a  manufacturing  center  in  Nevada,  as  it  would  cost  too  nuch 
to  assemhle  materials  for  most  industries.   You  would  not  locate  it 
in  northern  Maine  unless  it  v/ere  a  paper  or  a  lumber  center.  You 
would  not  locate  it  in  southern  Texas.  Men  locate  industries  with 
regard  to  the  cost  of  assembling  material.   Usually  we  say  v/e 
locate  the  factory  near  the  source  of  raw  material,  but  distance 
must  be  thought  of  in  terms  of  cost,  not  in  terms  of  miles-   For 
instance,  the  iron  mines  of  Minnesota  are  near  Pittsburg.   On 
the  map  they  are  1,000  miles  away;  but  they  are  near  Pittsburg 
because  of  cheap  transportation,  and  iron  ore  can  be  brought  tc 
Pittsburg  at  a  cost  which  is  relatively  small,  because  most  of 
the  long  trip  is  taken  on  the  Great  Lakes.   The  iron  ore  is 
transported  in  specially  designed  vessels  to  carry  this  kind  of_ 
cargo,  and  to  load  and  unload  cheaply.  Distance  from  rav;  material 
is  measured  in  terras  of  cost. 

(b)  The  availability  of  labor.   The  availability  of  labor  does 
not  mean  simply  numbers  of  v/orl-cmen.   Suppose  for  instance,  that 

you  v<'ere  to  interest  yourself  in  the  manufacture  of  pottery.  You 
decided  to  put  money  into  a  pottery.  You  say  Madison  is  a,  delight- 
ful city  to  live  in  and  I  think  I  will  locate  my  pottery  here. 
First,  there  are  no  suitable  materials 'near  at  hand  and,  second, 
8Jid  more  important,  there  are  no  skilled  potters  in  Madison.   Go  to 
Oshkosh  or  Detroit,  and  you  would  have  the  same  difficult^r.   The 
best  place  to  establish  a  pottery  and  succeed  is  a  center  where 
this  specialized  industry  is  already  located.  There  are  only  three 
or  four  places  in  the  country  where  an  abundant  supply  of  this 
skilled  labor  can  be  found  and  where  the  industry  is  already 
established.   Or  suppose  you  decide  to  establish  a  glass-blowing 
factor^'-.   You  v/ould  have  the  same  labor  difficulty.  Glass  blowers 
are  only  at  the  centers  where  glass  blowing  is  ca/rried  on.      So  v/hen 
a  city  becomes  specialized  in  a  certain  line  of  industry,  future 
plants  are  almost  forced  to  locate  at  the  same  city  or  nearby.  7ihy 
could  we  not  go  to  East  Liverpool  and  persuade  some  of  the  potters 
to  leave  East  Liverpool  and  go  to  Madison?  Maybe  you  could;  but 
you  would  be  at  the  mercy  of  these  persons.   They  could  hold  you 
up.   So  if  you  v/ant  to  have  some  competition  in  your  labor  supply 
and  not  be  at  the  mercy  of  one  small  group  you  must  locate  where 
there  is  a  surplus  of  this  kind  of  labor.   The  less  skilled  in- 
dustries are  not  quite  so  easily  affected  by  the  labor  supply  as 
the  specialized  ones  mentioned.   There  is,  therefore,  a  tendency 
in  the  cities  to  increase  the  kind  of  industries  that  are  already 
established.   The  thing  grov>?s  by  a  sort  of  budding  process.   Take, 
for  instance,  again  the  pottery  industry,  which  I  happen  to  kno^  at 
first  hand.   Alm.ost  all  pottery  factories  in  Trenton  now  existing 
are  offshoots  of  the  older  potteries.  Foremen  and  managers  who 

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formerly  worked  in  the   old  potteries   got  hold  of   capital  and 
started  rev;  plants.     T^ere  did  they  start?     They   started  m  the 
city  vrhere  they  live,   and  so   the  potteries    in  T.enton  grew  from 
one    to    ten,    fifteen,    thirty.     But   ten  miles   out   of  the   city   of 
Trenton   there  are   few   if  any  potteries.      The   tendency   is    to  multiply 
inthfi  city  where  the  skilled  lalDor   exists,   where   the  experienced    . 
labor    is. 

For   the   same  reason   there  are  few  cotton  mills    in  the  West. 
You  may   ask  yourselves    the   question,      llhy  are  there  no   important 
cotton  mills   in  the  T/est   or  liiiddle  ¥est?     Could  we  not   run   cotton 
mills   here?     \je  certainly  could.      It   is   no  more   difficult    to  ^ring 
raw  cotton  here  than  to   New  England.      There   is    plenty   of   labor  here. 
But  we  have  not  the   right  kind  of   labor.     The    tendency  is  for  labor 
to   remain  where   the  industry  is   specialized. 

(c)  The  ability  to    obtain  power  at  reasonable   cost.      Power  is 
obtained  from  coal,   petroleum,   water   or    electricity.      Certain   in- 
dustries  like   paper,    cotton  and  flour  mills   have  always   clung  to 
v/ater  power,    and  you  find  the    country  over  that   these  three 
industries  are  very  largely  located  vhere  water   power  is   available. 
Some   other   industries  have  grown  up   irrespective    of  water  power   and 
hardly  ever  use   it.      a  few  industries  vise   natural  gas   and  locate 
where  natural  gas   is   found.     But   the  great   fuel   in  use   is    coal    ^ 
and  it  has  been  stated  that   eighty-three  per  cent   of   the   mechanical 
power  generated  in  the  United  States    is   generated  by  coal. 

(d)  An   elastic   supply  of    capital   for  permanent  and  for 
seasonal  needs.      Not  only  are   the  manufacturing    cities   concerned^ 
with   labor  and  raw  materials   and   power,   but   they   are  concerned  with 
capital.      Capital   flows   so    easily,    however,    that   there   is   not  much 
to  be   said  about   that.      If  the  security   is    good,    capital  will  go 

to   northern  Michigan,    northern  Maine,    or  southern  Texas. 

(e)  Fair  cost   of  land  and  non-burdensome   taxes.      The   cost   of 
land  and  taxes   may  be   a  large  factor.     Land  may  become   so 
valuable,    as    it  has   on  Manhattan  Island,    that   it   almost   forces 
people   to   locate   outside.      It    is   possible,    of    course,    to   mal:e  land 
earn  so   much   that   it  will  bear  a  very  high   cost.      You   can   construct 
buildings  thirty  or   forty  stories  high  and  defy   the   cost   of   land. 
It   is  possible    to   build  high  lofty  buildings   and  lease   the_ floors 
to   small  manufacturers   and  obtain  an  income   that  will   justify  the 
cost   of   the   land.     But   these    things   can  only  be   done   in  a   limited 
number   of   industries.     You   can't   manufacture   locomotives,  _  farm 
machinery,  Bucyrus   shovels,    etc.,    in  such  places.      There    is    a  • 
limited  range   of  manufacturing  that   can  be   done    in   congested  centers 
of  population.      In   general,    manufacturing  requires   ground  space   and 
lots    of    it.     But  manufacturing   generally   finds    it   advantageous   to 
locate   as   near   as   possible   to    centers   of  population.      If  they 
cannot  locate   in  the   center  they    locate  as   nearly  as   possible    in 
the   center   of  population  for   reasons   discussexi  last  Tuesday.    There 
is   quite   a  strong   tendency  always    for  new  manufacturing  plants    ol 
large   size   to    locate   just   outside   the   city.      The  Census   of    1-^10 

-103- 


made  a  special  report  on  that  question  and  presented  maps  of  many 
cities  showing  that  around  the  outer  margin  of  all  the  hig  cities 
are  located  many  important  plants.   They  have  gone  just  outside  of 
the  city  for  the  deliberate  purpose  of  obtaining  as  many  city 
advantages  as  possible  and  still  escape  paying  the  high  cost  of 
land  and  higli  taxes  in  the  city.   An  interesting  case  is  in  Detroit 
where  the  great  Ford  plants  and  the  surroundings  are  still  a 
separate  village.  Hamtramck  is  the  name  of  the  village,  J  believe. 
Forty  thousand  or  more  people  live  in  this  village,  entirely 
suxrounned  by  Detroit.   There  are  two  municipalities,  one  a 
village  BXid   one  a  city,  and  both  of  them  independent,  but 
surrounded  by  the  city  of  Detroit.  A  similar  case  exists  in 
Boston,  where  an  independent  municipality  is  entirely  surrounded 
by  Boston  because  the  people  living  there  have  refused  to  be 
annexed.   Generally,  by  adjusting  the  tax  you  can  induce  these 
suburban  tovms  to  come  into  the  city,  but  sometimes  you  can't. 
So  you  have  this  growth,  this  marginal  growth,  of  industries 
around  the  cities,  for  the  purpose  of  saving  the  cost  of  land 
and  escaping  high  taxes. 

(f)  Good  transportation  facilities  for  distribution  of 
products.   AS  the  city  grov;s  and  land  in  the  center  becomes  more 
expensive,  automatically  it  pushes  people  out.   You  have  a  repellant 
force  and  there  is  constantly  developing  around  tlie  margin  of  the 
city  new  suburban  plats.   That  in  turn  calls  for  better  trans- 
porta-^ion.   It  is  commonly  said  in  Madison  that  one  reason  the 
price  of  land  is  so  high  in  Madison  is  because  we  have  not  been 
able  to  get  the  street  railv/ay  company  to  build  out  into  the 
suburbs,  and  the  suburbs  already  built  have  had  to  depend  upon 
one  kind  of  conveyance  or  another  and  so  such  suburbs  are  not 
attractive.   In  some  cities  like  New  York  expansion  in  certain 
directions  is  out  of  the  question.   If  you  expand  lov;er  ITew  York 
you  must  go  across  to  Nev/  Jersey.   On  the  other  hand,  Detroit, 
Milwaukee,  or  Philadelphia  have  no  limitation  to  their  growth  on 
t\vo  or  three  sides  3,nd  they  can  spread  and  spread  and  add  new 
plats  and  keep  the  cost  of  land  from  soaring,  provided  they  can 
get  good  transportation  facilities. 

Under  No.  3  1  have  spoken  of  different  types  of  industries. 
This  is  perhaps  self- explaining  and  I  will  pass  on  without 
discussi  on. 

4.  The  larger  the  number  of  advantages  possessed  by  an  urban 
site,  the  more  its  grov;th  is  stimulated,  but  good  transportation 
is  essential  in  all  cases. 

5.  In  general,  manufacturing  concerns  locate  in  cities  because 
they  require  a  constant  varied  line  of  service  which  can  best  be 
secured  in  large  centers  of  population. 

Point  6  I  have  discussed  already. 

« 

-104- 


THE   SEECIJ^^C    OK   LOCAL   SITE. 

1.  It    the   general  or   regional  site   is   highly  favorable, 

as   it    is    in  the   case   of  ITev?  York   and  Chicago,    the   local   or   specific 
site  may  have  many   disadvantages,    and  yet  nay  be   dorninantly  ad- 
vantageous.     Nev;  York,    for   example,    is  built   on  an   island,    and 
has   a  serious   transportation  problem.      It   is   a   splendid  site   for   a 
small   city  and  a  very  bad  site   for   a  big   city,    and  yet   despite   the 
disadvantages   its   general  advantages  are   so  great   that   it  goes    on 
grov;ing   despite   local   disadvantages.      Chicago  v.'as   a  swamp,    a 
miserable  place   to    build  a  city  and  New  Orleans   has  a   poor    local 
site,    but   both  have  grown  because   their   genera,!   sites   are   so 
favorable   that   the   poor  local   sites   could  be   ignored. 

2.  Local  sites   that  are   dorninantly  advantageous  may  have  a 
number   of   serious   disadvantages,   and  yet  the   city  may  prosper.   Take 
the  case   of   Seattle;   people   chose   to   locate   there  v;hen  it  was   a 
small   place.     "THien  the   city  had  grov/n   to   have  a   population   of 
150,000   there  was   not  level  ground  enough  for  the   business   district, 
and  the    cit^;  v/ent  to   the   tremendous   expenditure    of  v/ashing  away 
hill   after  hill    to   make   a  level  business   center   in  Seattle.      In 
certain  parts   of  Chicago   if  you  dig   down  you  will   find  four  or 

five   feet   of  made  ground.     Most  of   Chicago   is  built  on  made  ground, 
and   in  many   cities    there   are    thousands    of  acres    of  made  ground, 
made  partly  as  mere   dumps   for   city  refuse,    but   in  other  places  at 
large  expense.      Frequently  a  city   that  has  a  low,    svampy  district 
in  a  disagreeable   area  which  everyone   avoids   in   the  early  history 
of   the   city  and   it    is   left  unoccupied  but   later  when  land  becomes 
very  valuable,    the   rejected  place  still   remains   unoccupied  and 
offers   a   district  for   railroad  yards   and   terminals  which  v/ould 
cost  millions   if    it  had  not  been  avoided  and   later  become   available 
for   railroad  terminals  and  yards   and  manufacturing  lands  at  a  mouest 
price . 

The   remaining  points   that  I   desire   to   make   are   given   in  the 
outline  and  need  not  be  developed  at  greater  length. 

(See  outline  at  beginning    of    this    lecture). 


-105- 


[NSTITUTE   POR  RESEARCH   IK  LAKD  ECONOIIICS 


URBAN  LAUD  ECONOMICS 
Land  Values 

G.  B.    L.   Arner,    Ph.   D. 

Institute   for  Research  in 
Land  Economicc 


"UlTOER  ALL,    THE   Li^JID" 


"Uy   o'.vn  conviction  has  long  been  that 
the  land  question  fai'  transcends  any  re- 
stricted field  of  economics  and  that  it 
is  fundamental  to  national  survival  and 
national  -v^elfare.  It  is  truly  a  problem 
calling  for  statesmanship  of  the  broad- 
est type."  -  Professor  Pranl:  A.  Fetter. 


LECTUK5  I. 

The  Growth  of  Land  Values . 

In  this  first  lecture  I  want  to  impress  upon  you  the  com- 
pleteness v^fith  which  the  conditions  of  urban  life  broke  with  the 
past  as  a  result  of  the  Industrial  Revolution  of  the  last  half 
of  the  Eighteenth  Century.   One  hundred  years  is  a  very  brief 
period  in  the  history  of  the  world,  but  in  the  Nineteenth  Century 
the  type  of  city  which  had  developed  gradually  through  ten 
thousand  years  suddenly  disappeared,  leaving  only  a  fev/  pictur- 
esque survivals  in  the  backwaters  of  civilization.   The  city  of 
17  50  was  not  strikingly  different  from  the  city  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  but  the  city  dweller  of  17  50  would  be  as  completely  lost 
and  bewildered  in  the  city  of  1922  as  if  he  had  been  suddenly 
transported  to  another  planet  in  which  the  course  of  social  evo- 
lution had  been  different  from  the  beginning. 

You  are  familiar  with  the  descriptions  of  the  old  type  of 
city  with  its  narrow  crooked  streets,  its  picturesque  buildings, 
its  inconveniences  and  indescribable  filth.  Perhaps  the  only 
large  city  in  Europe  which  still  retains  its  essential  medieval 
conditions  is  Constantinople, which  even  now  with  its  dog  scavengers 
and  its  degenerate  population  is  perhaps  cleaner  than  it  was  in 
the  reign  of  Justinian.   In  some  of  the  less  progressive  cities 
of  Spanish  Aiaerica  medieval  conditions  also  survive  and  even  in 
our  ovm  soutli  there  are  many  out  of  the  v;ay  villages  in  which  there 
are  no  attempts  at  sanitation  and  in  which  pigs  run  at  large  on 
the  streets  and  can  be  heard  grunting  under  the  floors  of  the 
schoolhouse,  while  classes  are  being  heard  in  the  room  above.  It 
is  hard  to  realize  that  these  conditions  were  familiar  to  our  own 
great-grandparents  v;herever  they  may  have  lived.  Prints  less  than 
a  hundred  years  old  show  pigs  running  at  large  on  Broadv/ay  in 
New  York.   In  1840  there  was  no  city  water  supply  in  ITev/  York 
and  special  assessments  were  levied  for  wells  and  pumps  at  street 
corners.   Garbage  v/as  collected  in  dog  carts  and  hauled  up  Fifth 
Avenue  to  what  is  noi*  Central  Park  where  it  isras  fed  to  thousands 
of  pigs  and  chickens  icept  by  a  nondescript  tribe  of  squatters  v;ho 
lived  in  shacks  on  land  which  large  real  estate  owners  were  holding  for 
future  development. 

The  old  city  v/as  a  trading  center  or  a  center  of  governmental 
activities.   It  grew  slov/ly  and  was  never  large  in  our  modern 
sense.  \Je   know  very  little  about  the  population  of  ancient 
cities,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  most  of  the  population  esti- 
mates are  far  too  large.   There  is  on  record  a  poll  tax  enumer- 
ation which  shows  that  London  in  1377  had  a  population  of  about 
25,000.   In  the  same  year  York,  the  second  city  in  England,  had 
about  11,000  inhabitants.!)  There  v/ere  undoubtedly  some  larger 

1)  A.?.  T;eber  -  The  Growth  of  Cities  in  the  Nineteenth  Century. 

-107- 


cities    in  southern  Europe  and  Asia  of  v;hich  we  have  no   satisfactory- 
population  estimates. 

Then  to    this   slow  moving  and  had  smelling  Wo  rid  came   a  series 
of  great   invantions  and  diecoveries.      Old  h3.iiiicr.^,:'r,  rv.ithods 
suddenly  became  obsolete,    factories  were  built,    and  the  people 
crowded   to  the  cities  as  factory  operate ves.     A  new  type  of   city 
developed,    and  the   old  cities  v.ere  transformed.      R-ipid  corcrcuni- 
cation  was  developed  and   improved  metiiods   of  ajrriculture  made   it 
possible   to    feed  a  vastly  larger  population  T/ri.h  no  additional 
labor    on  the  land-      After   the  l^apoleonic  period,   Europe  v/as   free 
from  long  devastating  v;ars  for  a  hundred  years.      Discoveries   in 
sanitation  decreased  the  dangers   or"  pestilence   and  lov;ered  the 
death  rate,    so   that   the   population  suddenly  bec-'^n  to    increase  more 
rapidly  than  ever  before-      This   inrrtrased  population  v/as   not 
needed  on  the   land,    so   it  was   absorbed  by  the    industrial    cities  and 
overflov/ed   from  Europe   to  populate   the  ITew  ¥orld. 

In   the  United  States   the  rapid  growth  of    cities  has  been 
particularly  strii:ing.      Cities   like  Chicago,   Detroit,   Cleveland 
and  Los   Angeles   have  grovm  uo  from  straggling  villages  within 
tlie   lifetime   of  men   still  living.      In  17  90   only  3.14  per  cent   of 
the  American  population  lived  in  cities.      In   1320  over   50    per    cent 
were  city  dwellers.      :".n  1800   there  v.'ere   only  six  cities   in   the 
United   States,    Philadei-ohia  wxth   69.000..   Vevi  York  with   60,000, 
Baltimore  v/ith  26,000.  Boston  vath  25,000,    Charleston  with   20,000, 
and  Galen  with  9,000.     l^ow   there   are   67    cities    in  the  United  States, 
v/ith  a  populai:ion   of  over  100,000.     But   this   phenomenon  has   not 
been  confined  to    the  United  States.     Previous   to   the  nineteenth 
century   there  v^as  probably  never  a  city   in  the  world  with   a 
population   of  a  million.      London   first  reached  the  million  point 
in  loll,    and  Paris  not  until   1846.      In  1800  London,   Paris,    Vienna,, 
Moscow,    St.   Petersburg  and  Constantinople  were   perhaps    the    only 
European   cities  which  had  more   than  200,000  population.      Calcutta 
and  Madras    in  India  were   estimated  at   800,000   each.      ITo   satisfactory 
estimates   csn  be  made   of  Chinese  and  Japanese   cities,    but   it    if- 
quite   certain  that  none  had  a  million  inhabitants.      The  largest 
city   in  the  Western  Hemisphere  v;as  Pvio   de  Janeiro  with   125,000. 

This    concentration  in  cities  has  been  accompanied  by   a  vast 
increase    in  social  wealth.      There  was   a  greater  surplus   than  ever 
before.     YJealth  accumulated  with  unprecedented  rapidity,    even 
more  rapidly  than  population.      This   new  v/ealth  v;as   not   equitably 
distributed,    but   the    old  idea   of  the   rich   growing   richer  and   the 
poor  poorer   is  true   only  in  a   relative   sense.      The  poor   in  every 
country,    at  least  before   1914,   were   better   off   than   ever  before    in 
the  history  of   the  v;orld.      The  minimum  standard   of  living  has 
risen  tremendously.     Even   the  most  poverty   stricken  family  rightly 
insists   upon  a  standard   of  living  far   above  that   of  the   middle 
class    city  dweller   of  the  past  ages.      This    increased  standard  of 
living  and  comfort,    much   of   it  enjoyed  by  all,    simply  because  they 
live    in   a  city  which  requires    these    Standards   and  providesmeans    for 

-108- 


maintaining  them,    is   really  an  increase   in  tlie  wealth   of  the 
individual  family.      On   the   otlier  hand,    the   rich  have   certainly 
grown  richer.      In  every  srnall   town  now   there  are  well-to-do  men 
who  would  have   oeen   considered  faliulously  rich  a   centurj''   ago.    As 
recently  as    1855   the  Nev/  Yoric   Sun  published   in  paunphlet   form  a 
list   of   "The  V/ealthiest  Citizens    of  the    City    of   New  York,"    con- 
taining   "the  nanies   of  the   most  prominent   Capitalists  v;hose  wealth 
is   estimated  at   one  hundred  thousand  dollars  and  upwards."   Accord- 
ing  to    the    list  Y7.B .    Astor  was   the  v;ealthiest  man   in  Nev;  Yorlc 
with  36,000,000.      V/.H.   Aspinv;all,   James  Lennox,   A,T.    Stev/art  and 
Stephen  T/hitney  v/ere   the    only  others  having  $2,000,000  or   more. 
The  whole   list   contained  about  1000   names.      In  1920  more   than 
6,000  persons    in  New  Yorl:   State,    of  whom  more  than  half  were 
from  New  York   City,    admitted   in   their    income   tax  returns    incomes 
in  excess    of   $50,000.^/ 

It   is    this   growth   in  population  and   the    increase   in   the 
social  wealth   that   is    responsible  for   the   growth   of  land  values    in 
modern  times.      There   is  more   competition  for   a  given  piece    of 
desirable    land  and  more  men  have   the  price   to  pay  for   it.      The 
differential  betv/een  good  land  and  poor,    between   a  desirable   site 
and  ah  undesirable    one   is  enormously  greater.      A  few  vjeeks   ago   I 
saw  a  paper  published  by  a  single   tax  organization   in  wnich  a 
certain  statistician  "after   years    of   investigation"   presented 
figures    showing  that   the  reason   the  vrorking  people   and  the    farmers 
had  not   enjoyed  the  full  benefit   of  the   vast  savings   in  labor 
effected  by   the   age   of  machinery,   was    that  these  savings  had  been 
absorbed  by   the    land  monopoly.      He  shov/ed  a   chart   in  which   the 
land  values  v/ere  pictured  mountain  high  as   compared  v/ith  vailues 
a  hundred  years   ago.      His   figures  were  more   or   less  accurate,   but 
they    told  only  a  part   of   the  story.      The  whole   story   is   that  all 
forms   of  wealth  have  piled  mountain  high  and  that  land  has   shared 
in  the   general  advance. 

In   all   the   cities  west   of   the  Alleghenies   it   is   obvious 
that  practically  all    the    land  values  which   now  exist  have   been 
created   since   the  year   1800,    for   in   that  year   there  were    in  all 
the  Mississippi  Valley  only  a  fev;   trading  posts.      On  the   Pacific 
Coast   there  were   only  a  few  Spanish   settlements.      In   the  Atlantic 
Coast   cities,    however,    modern   city  development  was   already   starting 
in  1800,    and   in   that  year   the  assessors   valued  all   real   estate   in 
the   city,    then  only  the  Island  of  Ivlanhattan,    at  $18,696,27  0.   ¥e 
have   no   means   of  knowing  v/hat  percentage    of  the   true   value    this 
represents,    or  how  much  was    land  value  apart   from  improvements. 
But   it   is    fairly  safe   to    assurae    that   the   true   value  was    somev/here 
between  $30,000,000  and   $60,000,000.      Of    this  value   at   least  half 
was   undoubtedly  in  the   land,    making   the  land  value   of  Manhattan 
Island  in   1800   somewhere  between  §15. 000 ,000  and   $40,000,000.   Ve 
will  assume   that   the  value  was  $25,000,000.      In  1850   the    assessed 
valuation   of   the   real   estate    on  Manhattan  Island  was   $207,000,000. 

L)   World  Almanac,    1921   -   p,    423, 

-109- 


In  the   five  year  -oeriod  1850-54  a   coraparison   of   sales  with 
assessed  valuations   shows   that   iraproved  real   estate  was   valued 
for   taxation  at  about  67   per   cent  of  its   selling  price   and  that 
vacant   land  was   valued  at  about   43  per   cent.      This  would  maicate 
real  estate  value   of   at   least   ^400,000,000,    of  which  perhaps 
$250,000,000  was    land  value.      In   1906  the  value   of   land  alone 
was   $2,600,000,000   and  a  comparison   of   assessed  valuations  vath 
sales   showed  a  ratio   of  76,   making  the   total   land  value 
$3,400,000,000.      Ho    other    equal   area   of   land   (24.8   square  miles j 
can  show  absolute   increases    in  value   to   compare  with   trxis.     Yet   ii 
we   consult  a  compound  interest   table  we   find  that   if  Pather 
Knickerbocker  had  taken  $25,000,000    in  1800  and  investec.  it  at 
5  per    cent  and  each  year  reinvested  his    interest  at  the  same  rate 
he  would  have  had  03,400,000,000   as  early  as   1901.      In   other  woras. 
New  York  City  land  maintained  an   average  rate   of    increase   oi 
slightly  less   than  five  per   cent   for   over  100   years.     King  s 
County   (Brooklyn),   which  now  has   a  population  as   great  as  tnat 
of  Manhattan,   had  a  population  of    only  5.740   in  1800  as    compared 
with  Few  York's    60,565,    and  its   total  assessed  valuation  was 
only  $1,800,000.     By  1906   the   land  alone  was  worth  $650, 000 ,00U. 
This   is   equivalent   to   about    5  l/2  per  cent  compound  interest. 
The   increase  in  land  values   in   the   outlying  borouglis   of  Queens 
and  Richmond  was    equivalent   to   about   4  l/2  per   cent   compound 
interest. 

The  gross   rate   of   increase   in  Western   cities  has  been   even 
greater  because   of   the  negligible   land  value  at  the  beginning  of 
the  nineteenth  century.      There  are  undoubtedly   cities    in  which 
not  only  the   gross  but   even  the   net  increase    in  value   for   many 
years  v;as    in  excess   of   5  per   cent.     But  Trhen   the   full   story   is 
told  a  hundred  years   from  nov;  it   is   not   certs.in   that  any  one   of 
them  will  show  more   constant    increases    than  Manhattan  from  1800 
to   1905. 

It    is   very  difficult   to   obtain   satisfactory   data  on  the 
growth  of  land  values    in  any  city.      In   only  a  few  cities    is   the 
veilue   of    the   land  separated  from  tiiat   of   the  buildings    in  tax 
valuation,    and  the    ratio   of  assessed  valuation  to   the   real   value 
varies   all  the  v^ay  from  25  per  cent   to    100  per  cent.      In  Boston 
land  has  been   separately  valued  for  many  years.      The   increase   in 
value  has  been  steady,    but   in  thirty  years   it  has  hardly  more 
than  doubled.      In  lulilwaukee   assessed  land  values    increased   from 
$74,000,000   in  1895   to   $100,000,000   in  1910.      In   Seattle    assessed 
land  values    increased  from  $70,000,000   in  1905   to   .5205,000,000  in 
1910.      This  was  a    typical  boom  period   in  v-Oiich    speculation   in 
land  went  beyond  the  bounds    of  reason  and  perha-ps  .anticipated 
legitimate    increases   in   value   for   years    to    come.      Los   Angeles  has 
passed   through  two  such   land  booms.      In  the   first,   about  the 
year  1889,    lots   subdivided  out  of  ranches   miles  away  from  the 
center   of   the   city  sold  for   prices  e.bsurdly  high.      The  boom 
collapsed  suddenly  v;ith  ruinous   effects  a,nd   the   cit^^  passed 
through  several  years   of  depression  in  land  values.      In  1900  and 
1901  lots   were   still  selling  belovf  the  prices    of   1889   aa though 
the   city  had  grown  rapidly.      A  fev/  years   later  there  wa,s  another 

-110- 


boom,    this    time   on   a  firmer  basis    of   actual  value,   "but  a.gain 
prices  went  beyond  reason.      It  would  be   a. very   interesting   study 
to    trace   these  grovang  pains    of   tliis  v/onderful   city  which   in 
forty  years  has   transformed   itself  from  a  squalid  Ilexican   tov;n  to 
a   rival   in  population  and  v;ealth  of  Boston,   Baltimore,   and    St, 
Louis.      Other  examples   of  boom  cities   are   Omaha,    Nebraska  and 
St.    Joseph,   Missouri,   which  were  so  anxious   in  1900  to    increase 
prices   of  real  estate   tliat  the   census   enumerators    counted  the 
graves    in   the   cemeteries    in   order   to  pad   the   population.      The 
people   in   these   cities  v/ere    far  less  enthusiastic   in  1910   when 
an  honest   enumeration  shov;ed  no    increase   over   the  padded  lists    of 
ten  years  before. 

In  this   connection  it    is    interesting  to   note  some  observations 
of  Michel  Chevalier,    a   distinguished  French   economist,  who   visited 
the  United  States   in  1835:-'-''      "The  unparalleled  grov/th   of   some  new 
tov/ns  has  turned  the   heads    of    the   nation,    and    there   is   a  general 
rush  upon  all  points  advantageously  situated;    as    if  before    ten 
years    three   or   four  Londons,   as,  many  Parises,    and  a  dozen  Liver- 
pools,    were  about   to    display  their  streets  and  edifices,    their 
quays    crov/ded  with  warehouses  ,    and   their  harb.ors  bristling  with 
masts,    in   the   American  wilderness.      In  Hew  York  building   lots  have 
been  sold  sufficient   for  a  population   of  two  million  souls   and  at 
Nev/  Orleans    for  at   least  a  million.     Pestilential  marshes   and 
naked  precipices   of  rock  have  been  bought  and  sold  for   this   purpose 
In  Louisiana,    the   quagmires,    the  bottomless  haunts   of   the 
alligators,    the   lakes   and  cypress  sv/amps,   with   ten  feet   of  water 
and  slime,    and  in  the  North,    the  bed  of   the  Hudson  with   20,    30,    or 
50  feet   of  water,   have  found  purchasers. 

"Take  a  map   of   the  United  States;    place   yourself   on   the   shore 
of  Lake  Erie,    T.-hich   tv/enty  years   ago  was   a  solitary  wilderness, 
ascend   it    to   its  head;    pass   thence    to  Lake   St.    Clair  and   from  that 
Lake  push   on   to    the   north,   across  Lake  Huron,    go   forv^ard  still, 
thread  your  vvay   through  Lake  Michigan,    s.nd  advance   southv/ard  until 
the  T/ater   fails   you;    here   you  will   find  a  little   town  bj'-  the    name 
of  Chicago,    one   of  the   outposts    of  our   indefatigable   countrymen 
when  they  had  possession  of  America.      Chicago   seems   destined,    at 
some   future   period,    to   enjoy  an  extensive   trade,    it  will    occupy 
the  head   of  a  canal,   which  is   to    connect   the    Mississippi  with   the 
lake  and   the   St.  Lavrrence;    but  at  present   it   hardly  nuinbers   two 
or   three   thousand  inhabitants.      Chicago  has    in   its  rear  a   country'- 
of  amazing   fertility;    but  this    country   is  as   yet   an  uncultivated 
wild.      IJevertlaeless   the   land  for    ten  leagues   round  has  been  sold, 
resold,    and  sold  again  in  small  sections,    not,   however,  e.t 
Chicago,    but  at  Nev/  York,    which  by  the   route  actually  travelled 
is   2,000  miles   distant.      There   you  may  find  plans    of  Chicago   lots 
numerous    enough   for   300,000   inhabitants;    tha.t   is   more  than   any 
city   in  the  New  IJorld  at  present    contains.      More   than   one  buyer, 
probably,  will  esteem  himself  fortunate    if   on   examination  ixe   shall 
find  not  more   than  six  feet   of  v/ater   on  his   purchase." 


l)   Society,   Manners   and  Politics    in  the  U.S. ,    p.    305  et   seq. 
Specula,tions  ,    1835. 

-Ill- 


Another   interesting  devsioprasnt   of   the   past   quarter    century 
has  been   the   new   industrial    city,   built  "by  a  great   corporation 
about  a   single    industry.      Perhaps    the    first  was  "Pullman,    with 
its   industrial   feudalism  which  Professor  Ely  v;as    the  first   to 
present    in   its    true  light    thirty-five   years  ago.      ?7ith   all   good 
intentions  Mr.   PullKian  tried  to   build  and  maintain  a  model    town 
in  v/hich   everybody  would  be   good  and  happy,    but    in  \ih.ich   only  the 
company   officials  would  be    entrusted  with  any  governmental 
responsibility.      The  wreck   of   this   plan  in  the   great  Pullman 
strike   is  another  story. 

More   interesting  from  our  point   of  view   is   Gary.      The   story 
of   the   grov/th  of  values    in  land  in  Gary  has   been   told  by 
Professor  Haig.l)      As   you  knov;,   Gary  was   a  city  by  decree   of 
the  United  States   Steel   Corporation.      In  1906   tlie   corporation 
bought   9,OC0  acres    of  marshland  and  sand  dunes   running  seven 
miles   along   the   southern   end   of  Lake  Michigan.      This    land  was _ 
unsuited  for  agriculture  and  practically  uninhabited,   but   as_  its 
potential   industrial  value  had  alrer.dy  been  recognized  by   others, 
the    corporation  was    obliged  to   pay  $7,200,000   for    the   tract,    or 
ar   average  price   of  about  $800  per   acre.      Old   inhabitants    said 
that   at   about   the   time  of  the  Civil  T/ar  this   land  sold  for   Ol.OO 
an  acre   and   in  1890   it  was  vrorth  from  $50   to    $150   an  acre.      This 
tract  was  held  and  developed  by   the   Gary  Land  Company,    a  Steel 
subsidiary.      The    remaining   9,749   acres   of  the   present   city   of 
Gary  was   never  under   company   ownership.      It  was   worth  from  $50 
to  $75  an  acre   in  1906,   making   tlie   total  land  value   of  the   city 
in  1906  about  $8,000,000,    or,    eliminating   the   land  on  which   the 
plant  v/as  built,    about  $6,500,000-      Profeosor  Haig   estimates    that 
in  1915   this   non-plant  land  was  worth  $33,500,000,    an   increase   of 
$27,000,000.      The    total  land   tax  paid  in  nine   years  was   about 
$2,000,000.      Street   improvements    cost  $5,000,000   less   $1,000,000 
in  delinquent  assessments    covered  by  bonds.      The    total   carrying 
charge    on  tiie   land  without   interest   in  nine   years  v/as,    tlierefore, 
about  $6,000,000,    leaving  a   net   increment   of  $21,000,000- 

Another   study  of  city   land  values,    although   in  a   city    of 
an  entirely  different .type ,    was   that   of  Dr.   Mewes,    of  Freiburg, 
in  Germany,    in   1904. ^^      The   study  covers   forty  years   from  1863  to 
1902,    during  which  time   the    city   increased  in  population   from 
19,000  to    61,500.      Freiburg   is   not   only  a  University  tov.'n,   but 
an  industrial  city   as  well.      It   is    located   in  Baden  at  the    edge 
of  the  Black   Forest.      The   residential  section   extends   up   through 
three  Black  Forest  Valleys,    the  Hflllenthal,    the  Bohrerthal  and 
the  Hezcer.thal.      In   these  valleys   the   city  has  always   enforced 
severe  building   restrictions  Yhich  have   confined  the    expanding 
business    interests   to   already   congested   inner  sections    of   the   city. 
These  restrictions  have   kept   land  values    down   in   the  upper    class 
residence   sections  and   increased  values    in  the   lower  class    residence 


1)  Political  Science  ■Q.uarterly,    1917,    vol.    32,    p.    80- 

2)  Volkswirtschaftliche  Abhandlungen  der  Badischen  Hochschulen, 
1905. 


-112- 


sections  in  the  inner  city.      In  1898-1902  the  average  price  of  the 
upper  class  residence  land  v;as  24.5  ciarks  per  square  meter,  for 
niddle  class  residence  land  40  maiics  and  for  lower  class  residence 
land  59  marks.   On  the  main  ousiness  street  the  mean  land  value 
in  1864-68  was  92.5  marks  per  square  meter,  in  1882-92,  207.5  markr, 
in  1893-97  299  marks,  and  in  1898-1902,  500  marks.   Dr.  Mewes 
analysis  is  made  in  great  detail  and  with  traditional  German 
thoroughness,  but  unfortunately  he  does  not  tell  us  about  the 
taxes  and  other  carrying  charges  viiich  would  offset  much  of  the 
value  increment  over  the  forty  years  covered  by  his  study. 

The  distribution  of  land  values  v/ithin  a  city  is  usually 
very  uneven.   One  would  naturally  -expect  values  to  be  greatest 
in  the  business  center  of  the  city  and  gradually  diminish  until 
the  site  value  raerged  witli  the  agricultural  value  in  the  surrounding 
country.  But  unless  a  city  is  built  on  an  open  prairie,  geographi- 
cal considerations  will  modify  the  values  of  land.   The  courses ^of 
rivers  and  streams  and  the  contour  of  the  land  almost  alv/ays  modify 
the  direction  of  city  expansion.   High  land  is  more  desirable  for 
residence,  v;ater  fronts  for  warehouses  and  elevators,  valleys  and 
lov/lands  for  factories,  lumber  and  stock  yards.   A  more  or  less 
accidental  location  of  a  particular  industry  or  group  of  industries 
may  change  the  direction  of  city  growth  and  modify  land  values. 
The  Chicago  stockyards  iB  a  good  example.   The  location  of  railways 
and  transit  lines  affect  profoundly  the  development  of  land  values. 
Social  considerations  are  tremendously  important  in  determining 
lard  values,   liudi  as  we  may  deplore  race  discrimination  it  is  an 
inescapable  fact  that  a  fev;  colored  families  moving  into  a  good 
residence  neighborhood  will  immediately  cut  land  values  in  half. 
The  location  of  parks  will  change  the  whole  course  of  land  values. 
'The  most  rapid  value  increases  on  record  in  New  York  City  followed 
the  laying  out  of  Central  Park.  Building  restrictions  and  zoning 
ordinances  often  modify  values  to  a  very  great  extent  as  we  have 
already  seen  in  the  study  of  Preiburg. 

It  is  tiiese  numerous  elements  of  uncertainty  which  make  land 
speculation  fo  dangerous.   Large  areas  in  ITew  York  City  are  worth 
much  less  now  than  they  were  twenty  years  ago  for  reasons  which 
could  not  be  anticipated  by  the  ov.'ners. 

Not  only  is  the  growth  of  l?nd  values  uneven  but  in  point  of 
time  the  rate  of  growth  is  subject  to  wide  variations.   Periods  of 
rapid  increase  in  land- values  are  followed  by  periods  of  depression 
or  stagnation  during  which  general  values  are  stationary  or  even 
fa,lling. 

Land  values  tend  to  follow  the  business  cycle,  Imt  withsome 
interesting  variations.   Recently  I  have  been  working  on  an  index 
number  of  land  values  for  the  Borough  of  Manliattan,  based  on  a  . 
comparison  of  sales  with  assessed  valuations.   This  index  is  now 
practically  complete  for  the  past  seventeen  years-   Taking  1913  as 

-113- 


the  base  year,  tne  values,  subject  to  a  few  minor  corrections,  are 
as  follows: 

1904  102             1913  100 

1905 108             1914  97 

1906  105             1915  98 

1907  109              1916  96 

1908  104             1917  89 

1909 104             1918 88 

1910 110             1919  95 

1911  103              1920  Ill 


n 


I 


1912  101  1921  11 

The  increase  of  values  in  1905  followed  the  opening  of  the 
original  sub\my,  which  opened  large  areas  of  llanhattan  as  residence 
districts.   The  drop  in  1906  was  evidently  the  result  of. the  stock 
market  panic  of  the  fall  of  1907,  which  forced  many  sales  of  real 
estate  in  the  process  of  liquidation.   Ta th  renev^ed  prosperity, 
values  again  rose;  in  1911,  however,  the  real  estate  was  assessed 
at  practically  full  value  for  the  first  time.   This  of  course 
resulted  in  a  material  increase  in  the  tax  rate  on  full  value  and 
a  corresponding  fall  in  prices.   During  the  v;ar  new  building 
practically  stopped  in  Hev/  York  as  elsev;here  on  account  of  labor 
shortage  and  the  high  prices  of  building  material.   As  a  result  the 
values  of  building  rose  while  the  land  values  remained  low.   But 
by  1920  rents  v/ere  forced  to  a  new  high  level,  making  it  again 
profitable  to  build,  and  we  find  an  imciediate  increase  in  land 
values  to  the  hi^iest  point  in  the  city's  history.   This  general 
increase,  which  follov/ed  two  years  after  the  boom  in  general  prices, 
was  checked  in  1921,  but  there  has  been  no  fall  in  values  because 
rents  are  still  high  and  there  is  still  a  shortage  of  housing. 

Less  satisfactory  evidence  for  earlier  years  based  largely 
on  the  assessed  valuation,  checked  by  sales  in  a  few  years,  in- 
dicates a  land  boom  in  the  thirties  follov;ed  by  a  depression  after 
the  panic  of  1837.  A  similar  land  boom  followed  the  Civil  War 
and  was  brought  to  an  end  by  the  panic  of  1873,  which  cut 
speculative  land  values  on  i'ifth  Avenue  in  half. 

The  determination  of  the  true  value  of  land  in  studies  of 
this  sort  is  extremely  difficult.   Assessed  valuations  in  the  past 
have  frequently  been  no  better  than  v;ild  guesses  on  the  part  of  the 
assessor,  checked  in  some  cases  v/hen  they  were  unusus-lly  high  by 
court  proceedings  on  the  part  of  the  land  owner.   In  Nev;  York  the 
land  owners  who  had  influence  witli  the  district  leader  were  said  to 
have  been  able  to  keep  their  assessed  valuation  down.   In  recent 
years,  due  la,rgely  to  the  excellent  vjork  of  Mr.  Lav/son  Purdy  as 
President  of  the  Tax  Commission  from  1906  to  1917,  assessed 
valuations  in  Hew  York  have  been  a  fairly  good  guide  to  the  true 
values.   Other  cities  are  also  improving  their  methods  of  c^ssessment, 
so  that  eventually  it  may  not  be  necessary  to  go  behind  the 
assessor's  reports  in  any  v/ell  administered  city.   As  a  result  of 
this  lack  of  accurate  (].ata  in  regard  to  the  growth  of  land  values, 

-114- 


there  is  mudi  popular  misconception  as  to  the  rate  of  growth,  and 
particularly  as  to  the  true  investment  value  of  land. 

We  have  pointed  out  in  this  lecture  the  changed  conditions 
of  urhan  life  whicli  have  resulted  in  vast  increases  in  population 
and  consequent  increases  in  the  value  of  urban  land.   We  have 
seen,  that  tiie  value  of  land  is  influenced  "by  a  complexity  of 
causes  and  that  it  fluctuates  from  year  to  year.   In  the  following 
lectures  we  will  take  up  the  costs  of  land  ownership  under  certain 
conditions,  and  shov;  how  these  costs,  often  to  a  very  large  extent, 
offset  even  the  greatest  gross  increments  in  the  value  of  urhan 
land. 


■  115- 


luctubz  II 

Land  Values  in  Few  York  City- 


In  this  and  the  follovdng  lectures  I  shall  "be  obliged  to 
rely  almost  entirely  on  IJev;  York  sources.   It  might  he  hetter 
if  I  could  discuss  contemporary  land  values  in  some  other  American 
city  in  vihich  conditions  vmulji  be  more  typical.  But  unfortunately 
v/e  have  not  "been  able  as  yet  to  extend  our  studies  to  otlier  cities, 
and  there  is  very  little  material  available  from  other  sources. 
However,  Hew  York  has  a  universal  interest  as  our  largest  city,  and 
it  is  also  of  interest  as  the  city  in  which  land  values  are  highest. 
And  while  New  York  is  not  entirely  typical,  I  am  sure  that  many  of 
the  conclusions  which  have  been  drawn  from  the  study  of  Hew  York 
land  values  v;ould  be  found  to  hold  equally  well  for  Chicago, 
Milwaukee,  Los  Angeles  or  any  other  modern  city. 

Since  I  shall  be  obliged  to  talk  so  much  about  Nev/  York 
it  may  be  well  at  first  to  get  the  geographical  background  well  in 
mind.   As  everyone  knows,  New  York  \7as  originally  confined  to  the 
lower  end  of  Manhattan  Island-   The  site  was  chosen  not  only 
because  of  the  incomparable  harbor,  but  because  of  its  na.tural 
defenses.   Protected* on  three  sides  by  water,  the  old  Dutch 
settlers  felt  entirely  secure  behind  the  stone  v/all  v/hich  they 
built  across  the  island  at  the  present  location  of  T/all  Street. 
By  1800  the  city  had  expanded  north  beyond  the  canal  v.hich  the 
colonists  constructed  across  the  island  where  Canal  Street  now  is. 
In  1807  it  had  become  apparent  to  citizens  of  New  York  that  the 
city  would  eventually  cover  the  whole  of  Manhattan  Island,  even 
including  the  tovm  of  Harlem,  some  seven  miles  to  the  north.  So  a 
city  planning  commission  was  appointed,  which  after  long  deliber- 
ation reported  in  1811.   The  plan  as  reported  and  adopted  was  in 
many  respecte  a  great  mistake.   The  commissioners  thou^t  that 
the  burden  of  traffic  would  be  from  river  to  river  across  the 
island,  so  225  new  streets  were  planned  from  east  to  west--nineteen 
to  the  mile,  T;hile  north  and  south  there  v/ere  only  twelve  main 
avenues,  six  to  the  mile,  with  Broadway  as  the  only  diagonal  street 
north  of  the  old  city.  Many  years  later,  at  great  expense, 
Lexington  Avenue  was  built  between  Third  and  Fourth  Avenues  and 
Madison  Avenue  between  Fourth  and  Fifth,  but  in  the  modern  city 
v/ith  the  main  course  of  traffic  north  and  south  there  is  great 
congestion  on  all  the  avenues,  a  condi  ti  on  r  hi  ch  mi^t  have  been 
avoided  if  the  actual,  course  of  development  had  been  foreseen  by  the 
commissi  oners  . 

The  course  of  development  at  first  followed  the  east  side 
of  the  Island.   The  western  side  was  so  rough  and  rocky  that  even 
in  1850  it  was  thought  that  it  would  never  be  possible  to  use  it 
for  anything  but  goat  pasture.   It  was  perhaps  fortunate  that  this 
v;as  the  case  for  it  gave  this  section  a  longer  time  to  ripen  into 
a  higher  use.   Since  it  was  not  built  up  until  within  the  past 
forty  years  Y/e  find  in  this  section  modern  apartment  houses  and 
dwellings  instead  of  the  old  low  tenements  which  were  built  in  the 
seventies  and  eighties  on  First,  Second,  and  Third  Avenues. 

-116- 


Uev:  Yorl;   is   almost  entirely  dependent   en  its    transportation 
facilities.      In  Manhattan   there  are  four  main   elevated  lines    on 
Second,    Third,    Sixth   and  Ninth  Ave-iues  and   three  main  subway  lines, 
Lexington  Avenue,    Seventh   Avenue,    and  Broadway.      Several   of    these 
lines   extend  through   the  Bronx,    and  the    subways    run  througli   to 
Brooklyn  "by   tunnels   under  the  East  River.      The   newest  subway  also 
connects  with  0,ueens  both  by  bridge   and  tunnel.      Surface   trolley 
lines   are   of  comparatively  little   importance  as   nobody  has   time   to 
use   them  except  for    short  distances.      Several   surface   lines  have 
been  discontinued  and  motor  busses    substituted.      All   of  the 
elevated  and  subway   lines   are   disgracefully   congested,    and   this    m 
itself   is  having  a  perceptible   influence   in  checking  development 
along  the  most   congested  lines.      The   direction  of   future  growth 
will   depend  very  largely  on  the   routes   of  nev;  subway  lines,    since 
people  v/ill  flock   immediately  to  any  section  which  offers   some 
relief  from  the   packing  system  on  the   present    transit  lines. 

Manhattan  Island  is  still  of  course  the   center  not    only  of 
comiTaerce  and  finance  but   of  manufacturing.      There  are   two  main 
business    districts,    one  the   financial   district  with  its   focus  at 
Broad  and  Wall  Streets    in  the  old   city,    and   the    other,    the   retail 
shopping   district   three  miles   north,    with   its   focus   at  Fifth 
Avenue  and   42nd  Street.      The   financial    district    is   very   compact, 
occupying   only  a   few  blocks,    intensively  developed  with   skyscraper 
buildings.      The  shopping   district   covers   a  large  area  vdth  distinct 
specialization.      The  more  popular   department   stores  are   near   34th 
Street;    the  more   exclusive   shops  are   now   on  Fifth  Avenue  between 
42nd  and    59th  Streets;    the   theatre  district   is    on  Broadway  and  side 
streets   from  58th  to    52nd  Streets;   while   the  automobile  district 
runs   from  52nd  Street   to   65th  Street   on  Broadway.      The  shopping 
district  has  been  moved  several   times.      Twenty    years  ago  the   great 
department   stores  were   on  14th  and   23rd  Streets,    and  the   removal 
farther  up  town  v;as  a    disaster   to   property   owners    on  these   streets. 
Million  dollar   land  values  dropped  to   less  than  half  a  million 
within  five  years.      ITov;,  however,    these  streets  are  coming  back  as 
wholesale  end  manufacturing   centers.      The  v/holesale  districts   and 
the  garment  manufacturing  districts  have  gradually   follov;ed   the 
shopping   district  up  town  and  now  extend  as  far  north  as    34th 
Street   from  Fourth  Avenue  across    to  Eighth. 

The  residence    districts  are  quite   sharply  defined  and  are   now 
being  protected  by  a  rigid  zoning    ordinance.      The  most  exclusive 
end  expensive  residence   section   is   still    on  upper  Fifth  Avenue 
along  Central  Park  from  59th   to    90th  Streets.      Just   east    is  Park 
Avenue,    a  continuation  of   Fourth,  v/i  th  its  high   class    ajartment 
houses  with  apartm.ents   renting  at   from  $8,000   to  $20,000  a  year. 
On  the  v/est  side   are  Riverside  Drive   and  V/est  End  Avenue. 

South   of    14th   Street  and  er.st   of    the  Bowery   is    the  Lower 
East  Side  vdth   its   population  of    1,000  and  more   to    the    acre 
usually  living   in  five  and  six  story  brick  tenements.     Up   town  on 
the  East   Side   around  llOth  and   116th  Streets    is   Little  Italy,    also 

-117- 


v/ith  a  population  oi   1,000  to   the  acre.      Above  125th   Street   in 
Harlem  is   the  ilegro  section   in  which  for  "blocl-cs  a  v;hite  face   is 
almost  as  unusual  as   in  Central  Africa.      In  the   past  the   character 
of  many  of   these   districts  has   frequently  changed,    and  it   can 
readily  be  seen  how  such  a   change  vv-ould  affect  the  value    of  the 
land. 

According  to    the  records    of   me  Hew  York    City  Tax  Department 
nearly  97   per  cent   of   tlie  available   parcels   of   land  in  the 
borough  of  Manhattan  are   improved  by  building.     Land  has  been 
valued  for  taxation  apart  from  buildings   only  since   1904,    so    in 
tracing  the   value   of  any  large  area  over  a  series   of  years    it    is 
always   difficult   to   determine   the  land  value  apart   from  the  value 
of  the  whole  propertj^.      There  are,   however,    a   few  parcels   even  in 
the  heart   of   the   city  which  have   never  been   improved.      For  the 
purposes   of    our   study  of  Nev/  York   land  values,    nine  of   these 
parcels   were   chosen,    practically  at   random.      All    of   these   parcels 
v/ere    in  good  business   or   residence  section,  and   eight   at  least 
have   increased  in  value  at  a   far  higher  rate  than  has   tlie   gross 
land  value  of   the  borough  Manhattan  as  a  vAiole.      We  have   estimated 
that  since   1880  the  value  of   all  land  in  l![anhattan  has   increased 
250  per  cait,    while  the    combined  value   of  these  nine  parcels    in 
the  same  period  has   increased  400  per  cent.      In  tracing   each 
parcel  an  early  sale  for  a  stated  consideration  was  usually  taken 
as  the  starting   point.      The  assessed  valuation  was   determined  for 
each  subsequent  year  and  the  taxes  computed.      The  records  were 
searched  and   the  actual  amounts  of  the  special  assessments    levied 
on  each  parcel  were  determined.      Then  interest  at   four  per  cent 
compounded  annually  v/as    computed  on  the   original  base  value   and 
on  each  tax  or  special  assessment   payment.      In  this  way   the   total 
cost  of   each  parcel   to   date   on  a  four  per   cent  basis  was  determined. 
But   since  each  separate    computation  began  with  a    different   base 
year   tlie  objection  was  ma.de  that   the  results    of   the    computations 
were  not   comparable   one  with  another.      So  a  careful  estimate   of 
the  value   of  each  parcel  was   made   for   1880,    and   the  costs    re- 
computed from  that  date,   v/ith  the  surprising  result  that  the 
totals  v/ere   only  $25,000  short   of  the    totals    in  the  first  computa- 
tion,   a  difference   of  six-tenths    of    one  per  cent.      The   increase   in 
the   base  value  and   interest  almost  exactly  balanced  the    decrease   in 
the    total  amount  of   taxes  and  assessments  with   interest.      It   is 
this  second  conToutat ion  which  I   am  giving  you   in   chart   form,    (Chart 
I;    reduced  to   a"  percentage  basis.      The   100  per   cent  line   represents 
the  value   of   each  parcel   in   1921.      The   solid  color  represents   the 
value   in  1880.      The  second  section  of   the  bar  represents   the    taxes 
and  assessments  actually  paid  since  1880.      The  cross-hatched 
section   is    the   interest   on  the  base  value   and    the   final    section   of 
the   bar   is    the    interest   on  taxes  and  assessments.      The  net    increment 
or   decrement  in  each  parcel   is  measured  from   tlae    end.   of  each  bar 
to   the    100  per   cent   line.      In  the    first  for   example,    we  found  a 
decrement   of   171  p^r   cent  while   in  the  second   there  was  a    net 
increment  of  eight  per   cent   of   the   value   in  1921  and   in  the 
seventh  a  net   increment  of  fifteen  per   cent.     All   of    the   other 

-118- 


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parcels    showed  heavy  losses    as   compared  va  th  a  hypothetical    four 
per   cent   investment. 

The    first   of    these  parcels    is    located  on  Fourteenth  Street 
near  Fifth  Avenue   in  the   retail  "business    district   of   25  years   ago. 
It   is  the   last  re;naining  portion  of    the   estate    of  Henry  Spingler, 
a  New  Yorl:  merchant   of  Revolutionary    times,   v/ho    in  1788  "bought 
several  acres   around  v/hat   is   novi  14th  Street,   as   a   farm.      The 
parcel  comprises    fifteen  city  lots  and  is   occupied   only  "by  a 
dilapidated  old  stone  mansion  and  a  sta'ble  ,   relics    of  bygone 
splendor.      In  order  to  make   full   allowance   for   the   use  value   of 
improvements,    the   carrying  chE.rges  have  "been   computed  here   on 
only  12   of  the   15    lots,    on  the  very   liberal  assumption  that  the 
use   value   of    the  house   and  stable  has    equalled  the  carrying 
charges    on  three   lots.      The  actual   figures    in   this   case  are:   Value 
in  1880,    $320,000;    Taxes,    $323,050;    Interest   on  base   value, 
$1,022,303;    and   Interest   on  Taxes,    $299,799,   making  a   total  cost 
of   $1,965,152  as    compared  with  an  estimated  value   in  1921   of 
$726,000.      T\7enty   years  ago -before  the  removal   of   the   retail   trade, 
the   property  was   probably  v^orth   $1,200,000. 

The  secona  parcel   is  a   lot  measuring    54  by  100   feet   on  Fifth 
Avenue   above   39th  Street,    now   valued  at  about  $932,000.      In  1845, 
John  D.   Wendell  paid  $8,000   for   this  and  three   other  lots,   making 
the  proportional,   value   of    this  parcel   about  $3,000.      In   1880   it 
was  worth  about  $7  5,000.      The   taxes   paid   since   1880   amount    to 
$295,000  and  the  total   cost  v.'ith  interest   compounded  at  four  per 
cent  amounts    to   $850,000,    so   that  here    in   the  heart   of   the   new 
retail   district   there  has  been  a  net   increment    of  $82,000.      In 
other  v/ords   this   vacant  property,    worth   eleven   times  as   much  as 
in  1680  has   been  v;orth  as  an   investment   only  slightly  more   than 
four  per   cent. 

The   next   four  parcels   are   located  on  upper  Fifth  Avenue 
opposite   Central  Park,    near   the   residences    of    Carnegie,   Frick, 
and  Sx-Senator   Clark.      Here    land,  although  still   very  valuable, 
has    not    increased   in  value  materially   in   twenty    years.      The    zoning 
ordinance   now  prohibits  apartment  houses    in   this   section,   and  in 
New  York  the    one   family  house,    even  for   the  very  wealthy   is 
rapidly  passing.      The   seventh  parcel   is    located   on  V/est   64th 
Street   near  Broadway,    in   the    center   of   the   automobile  trade.      It 
has    increased  in  value  very   rapidly   in  the    past  ten  years,   and 
this  accounts  for   the   15  per    cent  net   increment.      Parcel   8   is    on 
Central  Park  7/est.      It  was  more  valuable   ten  years  ago    than   at 
present.      It   is  well   located,    but  for   some   reason  the   early  promise 
of   fashionable   development  v;as   not  realized.      The   properties 
Eurronnding  Central  Park  all  participated  in  a  tremendous   boom 
when  the   Park  was   opened  in  the    later  fifties.      The  section  which 
had  been  a  waste    of   abandoned  stone   quarries   and  swamps,    the 
camping   ground  of  a  horde   of   squatters,   va  th  their   pigs,    dogs, 
and    chickens  was  bought    in  1856  by  the    city  and    in  1858  was   opened 
as  a  magnificent  park.      Within  five   years    the    assessed  valuations 

-120- 


in  the   three  wards  'bounding  the  park  rose    frora  ^26,000,000   to 
$47,000,000,    and  in   another   five  years   the  valuation  was 
$80,000,000.      The    city   paid  an  average   price    of  $7,800   an  acre 
for   the    first  section  of  the    park  from  59th  Street  to    106th   Street. 
In   1859   it  v/as  decided  to  extend  the   park  to    110th  Street  and    this 
nev/  section,   more   distant  and   originally   far  less   valuable,    cost 
the   city   $20,000  an  acre.      Lots   on  Fifth  Avenue  v/orth  ahout 
$1,000  before   1850  were  worth  from  $10,000  to    $15,000   in  1860. 
After  the   Civil  7/ar   there  was  another  boom  in  Fifth  Avenue   lots 
and  these  same  lots  by   1870  were   selling   from  $50,000  to    $100,000. 
Then   came    the    collapse   after   the   panic   of   1873.      A  parcel   at  the 
corner   of    83rd  Street  which  sold  for   $250,000   in  1872   sold  again 
for   $145,000   in  1874   and    for   $132,000   in  1878.      Another  lot  which 
sold  for    $71,500   in  1871  was  sold  at   foreclosure    in   1875   for 
$43,500  and  was   sold  again  in  1878   for   $26,000.     But  by  1880   the 
trend  was   again  upward,    and  continued  so   until  about    1903  when 
other  exclusive   residence   sections  began   to   attract  some   of    the 
wealthy   residents.      This    drift   to    other  sections   has   left   values 
of  residence  property  at  about   the    same    figures   as    in  the    years 
from  1900  to   1905.      The  ninth  parcel    represented  in  the  diagram  is 
located   on  Riverside  Drive  between  109th  Street  and  Cathedral 
Parlcway.    This   property  has    steadily   increased   in  value,    but   not 
rapidly  enough  to    absorb    its   he3.ry   carrying   charges.      It   should 
perhaps  be    said  that   this  parcel  was   sold  last  year  for  a  price 
not   stated,   but  known   to   be  greatly   in  excess   of    the   estimated 
value    in   our   table.      A  large   part   of   the   sale  price,   however,    was 
allowed   to    stand  as   a  second  mortgage,    and   in  addition  the   former 
owners    obtained   for   the  purchaser  a  building   loan  of   several 
hundred   thousand  dollars  which  now  stands  as   the    first  mortgage 
against    the   property.      This    service,  if    rendered  by  such   a  firm 
as   S.V/.    Straus  &   Co .,  would  require   a  bonus   of   perhaps   $150,000,    so 
it   is   difficult  to    say  how  much   of   the   consideration  of  this   sale 
was   the   price   of   the   land  and  how  much  was   compensation   for   the 
financing  service. 

The    final   bar   in  the   chart   represents    the    total  value   of   the 
nine  parcels,  with  the    totals    of  the  various    items    of    cost  reduced 
to   a  percentage  basis.      The   100   per   cent  point   represents    in   this 
bar  a  present  value   of  $5,057,000  and  the   total    cost,    $8,171,000. 
The   value   in  1880  v/as   $1,012,500,    and  the    taxes   and  assessments 
without   interest,    $1,916,000.      In   other  words,  if   someone  had 
purchased   these   nine  tracts    in  1880  and    sold  them  in  1921,    his 
actual  cash  outlay   in  the    forty-one  years  would  have  been 
approximately  $2,000,000,    and  his   only  income,    aside   from  a   few 
hundred  dollars  for   the   rental   of  bill  board  space,   vrould   have 
been  $2,000,000,    the    difference  betv/een   the    cash  outlay  and  the 
selling    price.      But  wlien  we  consider  that  at   four  per  cent   compound 
interest  money  will   double   in  eighteen  years    it    is    clear  that   if 
he  had   invested  his   original   $1,012,500   in   four   per  cent  bonds  and 
re-invested  the    interest  at  four  per  cent   the   present   value   of 
his   estate  would  be   just   about  $5,000,000.    and   in   addition  he  would 
have   saved  the  $2,000,009  which  he  paid  in   taxes  and  assessments. 

-121- 


I 


Taxation   on  his    oonds  may  be   disregarded,   since    even  if  his   bonds 
were   not   non- taxable,    the   chance   is   very  slight    that   they   would 
have  been   taxed,    as   very  little  personal   pro  per  tv    in  Nev;  York  has 
ever  been   reached  for  purposes   of   taxation. 

These  properties  were   all   ripe   for    improvement    during 
practically  the  v/hole  period  of   our   study.      How  about    the   nev;er 
sections   v.hich  have  been  developed  more   recently?     The  northern 
end  of  Manhattan  Islapd,    above  the    deep  valley   which    cuts    the 
ridge   of  hills  at   125th   Street-,    is   a  section  v-hich  was    in  the  main, 
v/aste   land  valuable   only  in  anticipation  of  its    future  utilization 
as    city   land.      Here  v/e   can   trace   the  whole  evolution  of  farm  land 
into  highly  developed  city   property.      In  this  whole  section,    the 
most  valuable   corner  today  is  isist  Street  and  St.    Nicholas 
Avenue   on  Washington  Heights.      Here  there   is    a  business   center 
which  would  do    credit   to   a   very  considerable    town.      The  Washington 
Bridge   carries   181st  Street  across  the  Harlera   River  to   University 
Heights    in   the  Bronx,    and   a  subway  station  gives   access   to    the 
express   trains   on  the  Seventh  Avenue  line.    This   whole  section  is 
built  up  with  apartment  houses   for  people   of  moderate  means.      In 
1891  a   tract   of  38  acres    including   this  corner  was    sold  at   auction 
by  a  syndicate   organized  by  Henry  Morgenthau.      Our  study  of   tliis 
tract   covers  the   years    from  1891   to   1921  and  also   the  earlier 
period   from  1850   to    1891.      The   auction  sale   of   the  v/hole    tract 
immediately  after   its   subdivision  gave  a  good  starting  point   for 
the   computation  of    costs.      The  total  price  paid   for  the  411  lots 
was   $1,490,000.      In  1906  two   years  after   tlie    opening   of  the  subway 
the   land  value  v;as   over  $4,000,000  and    in  1921,    $9,000,000.      This 
represents   an    increase   in  land  value   of  125  per    cent   in   the  15 
years   1906-1921.      Luring  the    same  period  the  v/hole    of   the 
Washington  Heights    Section   increased   in  land  value  about    50  per 
cent  and  as  we  have   seen  the    land   value   of   the  Borough   of 
Manhattan  as   a  whole   remained  practically  stationary.      In   computing 
the   carrying   charges   on  this    tract  the  assumption  was  made   that 
any  building  erected  would  yield  sufficient  income   to   pay  all 
carrying   charges    including   interest   on  the  parcel    improved.      The 
special   assessments,   however,  were  taken   in  full,   because   they 
were    considered  in  the  nature    of  a  capital   charge   for   the    direct 
improvement    of    the   property,    one   of  the    emerging   costs  v;hich    is 
usually  directly  reflected   in   increased  value.      During    the    thirty 
years   since   1891   the   ovmers    of  vacant   land   in   this   tract  have  paid 
$653,000   in   taxes  and  the   total  amount   of   special    assessments 
levied  en  the  vAiole  tract  has   been  $481,000.      Adding   interest  com- 
pounded at   four  per   cent  computed  on   the   original    cost  and  on  the 
payments    to    the   city,    taking    onl^'  that   interest  ?/hich   can  be   con- 
sidered as  a  charge   on  vacant   land,    v/e   find  that    the    total   cost   to 
the   owners,    not   compensated  by  direct   income  has  been  $4,757,000, 
or    53  per  cent    of    the  present  value.      This,    as  we  have   seen,    is   a 
secti  on  which  has    developed  with  unusual    rapidity    from  waste   land 
to  higlily  utilized  city  land. 

-122- 


But   even  here    there   are    38  lots  v.hich   still    remained  vacant   in 
1921.      These   lots    in  1891   sold  for   $131,450.      They   are   now  worth 
$47  4,500.      Their   owners  have   paid  $165,000   in   taxes   and  $46,500    in 
special   assessments,    and  perhaps   other   items   of    cost   such  as 
grading,    removal    of  rocks,    etc.      Interest   on  the   original   cost  and 
the   known  carrying   charges  brings   the  total   cost   through  1921   to 
$774,000   or  163   per    cent   of   the  actual  value    in   that  year. 

It    is   interesting   to    note    that   even  within   this    38  acre   tract 
estimates   of    future  value   increases   in  1891  were  far  astray-      The 
highest   prices   paid  for   lots  were  for   those   on  Amsterdam  Avenue 
overlooking  the  Harlem  River.     At  present  the  most  valuable  land 
is   two  blocks  v/est,    and  even  aside    from  the   subv/ay  the  exact 
location   of  which   could  not   have   been  anticipated  by  the    original 
purcJ-iasers,   the    lots   on  Broadway   two  blocks   still    further  v/est  are 
nov/  much  more  valuable   than  those   on  Aiusterdam  Avenue. 

This    tract  had  a  very   interesting   history  prior    to    1891.    In 
1850   it  was   known  as   the  Ealzius  Moore   Farm  and  was  valued  for 
taxation   at  $8,000.      Since  vacant   land  was   assessed  very  low  at 
that   time   the   farm  nay  have  been  worth   $24,000.      In  1868.    at   the 
height   of   a  land  boom,    the   farm  was   purchased  by   a  Civil  War 
general,    Daniel  Butterfield,    and  a  i^artner,    for  $330,000.      They 
paid  $50,000   in  cash  and  gave  mortgages   for  $280,000,    on  which 
they  paid  at   least   six  per   cent   interest.      In  1873   the   boom 
collapsed,   but  General  Butterfield  and   his  partner  held  the   land 
until   1879  when  the  mortgages  were  foreclosed  and   the   property  sold 
for  $225,000.      Assuming  that   the   partners   paid  the  charges    levied 
against   the   property  their  losses  T;ere:-   nine  years    interest   on 
$280,000   or  about  $150,000;    their  -vAiole   equity   of  $50,000;    Taxes 
amounting   to  $34,000  and   special  assessments   of  $63,000,    a   total 
loss    in  ten  years   of  about' $300, 000.      In  1880   the   farm  was   sold 
to   George  Ehret.    a  wealthy  brewer   for   $315,000,    and  he   in  turn 
sold  it    in  1883   to  Edward  Morgan,   Governor    of  ITew  York,    for 
$450,000.      Morgan's   executors    sold  it   in  1885  for   $350, 000 ^to   Levi 
P.  Morton  and  an  associate.      Morton,    then  Vice  President   of  the 
United  States,    sold  it   to    the  Morgenthau  syndicate   in  1391.  for 
$980,000.      This  syndicate   surveyed  and  plotted  the  land  and  as  we 
have   seen  sold  it   at  auction   for  $1,490,000   in  the   came  year. 
From  1858   to   1885   it   is   obvious   that   this    tract   used  as   a  football 
of   land  speculation  had  brouf^it   financial    ruin  to    two  men   and 
great   loss  to   the  estate   of  a   third.      Ty;o    others,    both  holding   only 
a   short    time,   gained   in  the  speculation,    but   far    less  than   the 
others    lost.     Mr.   Morton  holding   the   land  for    six  years  lor   f^^i^S 
prices  more  tlian   doubled  his  money.      The  syndicate  which  suodiviaeo. 
the    farm  made  a  gross   iDrofit    of   $530,000   in  one   month   on  an   actuax 
cash   investment   of    only  $300,000.      It    is   not  known  how  much    these 
operators   paid  for    surveying  and  mapping,    grading,    adve".  tis  ing, 
and  auctioneer's   fess,   but  even  though  these  expenses  were   heavy 
there  was   undoubtedly  a   considerable    net  profit    m   this  unusuaiiy 
qu  i  ck   tu  mover  , 

-123- 


These   parcels  and  tracts   of  land  as  we  have  seen  have   shared 
fully  in  the    tremendous    increases  in  value  xvhicli  have   characterized 
the    development    of  Manhattan  Island.     But   as    the  values  have   in- 
creased  the   taxes  and   other  socially  necessary  costs   have  also 
increased.      Thus  v/hile  the   gross   increments    in  value  are  in  all 
cases   very  great  they  are   largely  and   often  entirely  ahsor'bed  by 
the    carrying  charges,    so    tliat   tiie   net   increments  which   do    remain 
rarely  amount   to   more  than  the  aca.imulation  of    capital  at  a  nominal 
rate   of    interest. 


-124- 


LECTUK5  III. 

Ov.tlyir-K  Ur"ban  Land  and  Lot  Auction   Sales 

It  will  te   aecessr.ry  later   to    return  to    the  Borough  of 
Manhattan,   to    illustrate   sone  of   the   points   in  our  more  general 
discussion  of  land  value  increments  and  decrements,   but   for   to-day 
I  v:ant   to    speak  of   the  outlying  urban  land  in  IJew  Yorli  vvhich  has    in 
the   past   fifteen  years  been  ripening  into   a  higher  use.      In  the 
case   of  much  of  this  land  perhaps   it   is  not  so   much  the  ripening 
into   a  higher  use  as   ripening   into    its   only  use.      For  in  vnany 
sections    in  and   about  Nev;  York  the  land  is  distinctly  sub-marginal 
from  an  agricultural  point   of   vlexj^ 

First,    I  will   speak  of    the  geography  of  the    outlying  boroughs 
of  New  York.      As   ycu  may  know,    these    outlying  sections   around  Kev/ 
York  7/ere  consolidated  into    the  Greater  City  in  1898.     Few  York  now 
consists   of   five  boroughs    -  Manhattan,    the  Bronx,   Brooklyn,   Q,ueen£ 
and  Richmond.     Ue  have   already  spoken   of  Manhattan.      The  Bronx  is 
the   only  part   of   the   city  strictly  on  the  mainland-      It   lies   to    the 
north  of  Manhattan  and  is    separated  from  it  by  the   Harlem  River,    a 
narrow  stream  which  has  been  miade  navigable   by  dredging  and 
canalisation.      There   are  many  bridges  across    this  river  and   two 
subway  tunnels  under   it,   malcing  the  Bronx  now  little  more   than  an 
extension   of  Manliattan.      In  2.rea  it   is   about   tv.l  ce  as   large  as 
Manhattan  and  it  now  has   a  population  of  about  800,000.     Brooklyn 
lies  to   the   south  east   of  Manhattan  on  Long   Island.      The  East  River, 
a  strait   connecting  Long  Island  Sound  vd  th  New  York  Bay,    separates 
Long  Island   from  Manhattan  Island  and  the  Bronx.      Three  great 
bridges   and   two   subway   tunnels   now   connect  Manhattan  v-lth  Brooklyn. 
In  area  Brooklyn  is   three   times  as  large  as  Manhattan  and   the   two 
boroughs   are  about  equal   in  population. 

Coueens,   with  its   116  square  miles    is  by   far   the   la -gest   of 
the  boroughs   in  area.      It   extends   from  the  East  River  and  Long 
Island  Sound  on  the  north  tc   the   Atlantic  Ocean   on  the   South,    half 
surroT-inding  the  borough  of  Brooklyn.      It   is    to   a   large   extent  still 
rural  with  mucli   land  which  is    still  agricultural  and  not   yet  sub- 
divided.     The  population  has    grown  very  rapidly  within  the   past 
fifteen  years  until  it  has   nov;  over   400,000   iniiabitants   in   several 
distinct   city  units  such  as  Long   Island  City,   Flushing,    Jamaica  and 
Rockaway.      This  grovmi  has  been  stimulated  by  the  building   of  two 
elevated  railway   lines   connecting  with  the  ITew  York  subways   both 
by  a  tunnel  and  a  bridge.      Another  tunnel  has    carried  the   Long 
Island  Railroad  under   the  East  River  and  under  Manhattan  to   the 
Pennsylvania  Terrainal,    giving  to    all  parts   of  Queens   access   to  Hew 
York  by   fast  electric   suburban   trains.     C^ueens  Boulevard,    connect- 
ing with  the  Q.ueensboro  Bridge  at  the  Plaza  in  Long  Is  lard  City 
and  running   tlircugii  to  Jamaica,    is    a  part  of   the  best  automobile 
route  from  Manhattan  to  the   ocean,    and  has   opened  up  large  sections 
of  q.ueen3   to   motor  traffic.      It   is    not    difficult  to   understand  the 
rapid  grov/th  of  the  borough  and  it  seems   quite   safe   to  predict  a 

-125- 


continuation   of   this   growth.      The  Borough  of  Richmond  comprises 
the  vvhole   of    Staten  Island,    five  miles  down    tlie  liay  from  Manhattan 
and   separated  from  Brooklyn  by  the  Harrows,    the    channel   connecting 
the  upper  bay  v/ith  the   lower  bay  and  the    ocean.      It  has   as   yet  no 
rail   connections  v/ith  the  other  boroughs,    and  except  for  a   fringe 
of  population  along  the  shore   of  New  York  Bay  is   still  largely  a 
v/aste   of  hills  and  salt  marshes. 

The   northward  development   of   the   urban  area   of  Uew  York   con- 
tinued through  the  Bronx  and,    after  the    consolidation,    the    opening 
of    three   great  parks,   Van  Cortlandt,   Bronx  and  Pelham  Bay  greatly 
increased  the  attractiveness   of   this  borough.      The   opening   of   the 
subway   in  1905  and   the   extension  o-^   elevated  lines   seemed  to   make 
continued  rapid  development   certain,    but  within   recent  years    the 
rate    of   growth  has   been  retarded.      Y^ftiile   it   still   has   a  healthy_ 
growth  the   expectations   of   fifteen   years  ago  have   not  been  realized. 
This   slowing   down  of  the  rate   of   grov/th  together  with   the    increas- 
ing tax  rate  and  increasing  expense   of  street   im.provements  has 
been  disastrous   to   the   ov/ners   of  vacant  land.      To    illustrate   the 
difference  between  the   investment  value   of  vacant  land  in  recent 
years   and  the    investment  value   of  similar   land  at  an  earlier  period 
we  have  made   a  comparison  betv/een   the   tract   on  Washington  Heights 
described  in  the   preceding  lecture,    and  a  tract   of   about  90  acres 
in  the  Upper  Bronx  v/hich  still   remains  practically  vacant. 

The  Washington  Heights   tract  was  purchased   in  16  68  for 
$330,000   and   sold  in  1891,    twenty-three   years   later   for  $980,000. 
During   that  period   the   owners   paid  in  taxes   ^91,000  and  in   special 
assessments   $77, COO.      Interest   compounded  at   4^  annually  on  all 
these   payments   brings   the   total   cost   to   $1,093,500   or   112  per   cent 
of   its   sale  value   in  1891,      Thus    if  General  Butteriield  had  been 
able    to   hold  the   property  for   twenty   three  years,    the   property 
while   yielding   less   thsm  4  per   cent   interest  v;ould  still  have  had 
some   investment  value. 

The  Bronx   tract  was   purchased  in  1894   for   $313,000   and  is 
still  held  by  the    estate   of  the  purchaser.      In  27    years   the   ovmer 
has  actually  paid  $204,300   in   taxes  and  $75,000   in   special  assess- 
ments.     Interest   compounded  annually  at   4 'per   cent  brings   the   total 
cost   to    $1,290,000.      The   tract   is   now   valued  for    taxation  at 
$514,000,   which   is  probably  a  liberal  estimate   of   its   value.    The 
cost   to   the    owners    in  actual    cash   is   115.2  per  cent   of    its  present 
value,    while  with   the   inclusion  of    interest   it  has    cost   the   owners 
251  per   cent   of   its  present   value.      The   history   of  this   tract, 
which    is    tj-pical   of  vacant   land   in   this    section,    illustrates   the 
great   costs   under  modern   conditions   of  holding   land  while    it    is 
developing    into  a  higher  use.      The   owner  was   not  holding   the 
land   out   of   use,    for    it  was  worthless   for   agriculture     end  not 
yet  needed  as  urban  land.      In  order   to   raoice   liie   return    ea.ual   to 
that   of   a  four  per   cent   investment   the    increase    in  land  value 
should  have  been  300  per   cent.      Actually   it   increased  in  value 
only  64  per   cent.      In   the   next   few  years    the    cost  will   be   even 

-126- 


higher.      The   tscs.es   are   nov;  about  $14,000  a  year.      Special  assess- 
ment levies   have   only  "begun,    and   it  v;ill   still   cost  inore  than 
$1,000,000  and   possibly  $2,000,000  to    open   and  pave  streets   and 
build  sevjers. 

In   order  to   avoid  the  ln.ea.vy  overhead  cost   of   carrying  vacant 
property,    real  estate   operators    in  promoting  new  sub-divisions 
freqvientiy  sell  the  lots   at   auction.      During   the   years    from  1905 
to   1913    such  lot  auctions  were  unusually   frequent   in  New  Yorli. 
The   lots  were   sold   la.rgely  to   people   of  relatively  small  means  who 
bouglit   either  for  speculation  or  with   a  view  to    future  building. 
Yihatever  were   the  motives   of  the   purchasers,    conditions    of   develop- 
ment have  forced  the  majority   of  txiem  to   hold  their  lots  vacant   for 
from  eight   to    sixteen  years,    and  it    is    interesting   to    see  how  they 
have   fared  from  the   investment  point   of  view.      A  test  v;as  made  by 
an  intensive  stuCj  of   ten  tracts  v;hich  were   sold  between  the  years 
1905   and  1913.      Six  of  these  were   in  the  Bronx,    three    in  Brooklyn, 
and   one   in  Richmond.      The  history    of    these  sales    is   shown  in 
graphic   forra  in  Chart  II. 

The   greatest   of  these   sales  was  held   in  1913.      The   tract  sold 
was   formerly  the  Morris  Park  race    track,    wi  tli   somie  adjacent  land, 
altogether  about  250  acres.      Tract  No.    1    in  Chart  II.      This  was 
surveyed  into   3019  lots.      Since   tiis   sale  was    in  accordance  xith   a 
court   order  the    seal   cf   the   State   of  New  York  was    featured  in  all 
the  advertising  matter.      The  advertisements  stated  that   the  land 
would  be  sacrificed  at  unrestricted  auction  and  70  per   cent  could 
remain   on  mortgage.      One  advertisement  states,    "We  know  of 
$3,800,000,000   in  New  York    State   invested  at   from  3-1/2   to    4  per 
cent.      If   it  were    invested   in  Bronx  real   estate   it  would  be   ob- 
taining  15   to   30  per    cent   interest  per  annum.      Actual   statistics 
show   that   to  be   the  average    increase   in  values.      The   assessed 
values   in  1890  were   $44,000,000,    in  1904,    $238,000,000  and   in  1912, 
$617,000,000."     How  these   figures  can   represent  15   to    30  per   cent 
increase   it   is   difficult   to   say,    especially  since  these   figures 
take  no   account   of   the   changed  ratio    of  assessed  values   to    true 
values.     Even  as   the   figures  stand,    they  represent  average   annual 
gross   increases   only  between   eleven  and  twelve  per  cent.      Further- 
more,   tliey    include   all   imiDrovements ,    the  assessed  land   value  alone 
in  1912  being  only  $333,000,000.      If   s.fter  malcing   this    slight 
correction  we   take   into   account  the  actual   costs    in  taxes  and 
assessments  we   find  that   five   to    six  per   cent  \70uld  be   a  liberal 
estimate    of  the  actual   return  on  Bronx  vacant  land  during   this 
period.      Other  advertiseaents   called  attention  to    the   "Persistent, 
Insistent  and  Consistent"    northerly  grov/th  of   the   city.      Attention 
was    called  to   selected  parcels   in  other  parts   of    the  Bro^nx  which 
had  shown  large   increases    in  value  and  all  the   transit   facilities, 
actual  and  pro-oosed,   were    continually  stressed.      The   sale  continued 
for    two   weeks   and  the   lots   sold  for  prices   totalling  about 
$3,700,000   or  an  average   price   of  $1217,    a   lot.      At  the   date   of 
the    sale  there  were   four  houses   en  the  whole  tract.      In  1S21  there 
were  still   only  forty  lots    improved  and   tlie  assessed  valuation  of 

-127- 


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the   whole   tract  was  $2,742,000,    nearly  one  million  dollars    less 
than  the   price   paid  at  the   auction  in  1913.     ITot    only  was   the 
actual  value   less,   hut   in  the   eight   years   the   owners  had  paid  in 
taxes   5439,000   and   in  special  assessraents   :;^729,000.      Counting 
interest  at   4^,  which  was   prohably  less  than  was   actually   paid 
on  the  mortgages,    the   total    cost   througli   1921   was   $6,375,000    or 
231  per  cent  of   the   1921  value.      To  raalie   the    case   concrete,    suppose 
John  Smith  to    have  "bought  two   average   lots  at  the   auction,    a  plot 
50  X  100   feet.      The  price  was   ^2434,    of  which  he  paid  |7§0   in  cash 
and  gave  a  mortgage  for  $1704.     ¥e  v/ill  suppose   that  he  v/ithdrev; 
the   cash  payment    from  a  savings  bank  which  had  heen  paying  him 
four  per  cent   interest.      In   eight   years  the   interest  paid  and 
foregone  would  amount   to    $1309.      His   taxes  would  have  been  $326, 
and  special  assessments   $486.      The   lots  have   now   cost  him  $4555  and 
they  are  worth  to-day  $1816.^)      Street   improvements  have   only  he^un. 
If   they  are  completed  in  ten  more  years  the    total   cost   of   this 
property   to    John  Smith  before   the   lots  are  really  ready   for  build- 
ing vri.ll  be   about  $10,000.      Tliis    is   the   present   value   of  some   of 
the  most   desirable   residence  property  in  the  Bronx  today,    that 
on  University  Avenue   near  Nev;  Yorl:  University.      To   anyone   familiar 
with  Morris  Paik   it   seeras  highly  improbable  that   anything _ 
approaching  these  values  will  be  reached  in  this   section  in  tvace 
ten  years . 

To   show  that  this  hypothetical  case   is    not    out  of  the   ordinary 
the   foliov;ing   is  an  actual  instance   of  similar  loss   in  the   Ogden 
Estate   tract,    number   5  on  the   diart.      This   property   is   directly 
across  Washington  Bridge    from  tlie  'Washington  Heiglits   tract   dis- 
cussed before.      Shortly  after  that  auction  a  man  bought  two    lots 
in  this   tract  from  the    original  purchaser,    paying   for    them  $1800. 
He   died  soon  after,    leaving   these  lots   to   his  widow  as   practically 
his   v/aole   estate.      The  widow  borrov/ed  $1600,    giving  a  mortgage   on 
the  lots   at   6  per  cent.      She  still  holds   them  and  according  to 
her  own    calculation  they  have  cost  her  over  $5000.      She   is   now 
hesitating  whether  tc   continue   this  drain   on  her  small  salary  or 
to   let  the   lots   go    to    foreclosure.      They   are  valued  for    taxation 
now  at   just  the  aoiiount   of  the  mortgage,    and  she  has  been  unable   to 
find  a  purchaser  at  a  higher   figure. 

Chart   II   needs   little   further  discussion.      The   first   six 
bars  represent  sales   in  the  Bronx.      They  are   distributed  over^^the 
whole  borough  excgpt   the  lovj-er   part  which  was   all   improved  before 
1905.      The  best  showing   is   number   6,  ivhich   is    the  nearest  to    the 
lov/er  city  axid  which    is  now   over   70   per   cent   improved.      Numbers   7, 
8   and  9   represent   sales    in  Brooklyn.      Tracts   7  and  9  are   now  about 
half  improved  and  are  located  in  good  residence  sections  w.iich  are 
developing  rapidly.      Tract   S   is   far  out   in  Brooklyn,    an  hour's    ride 


1}   A  real   estate   dealer  advertised  as  follows    in  the  New  YorJ  World 
of  April   22,    1922:    "I    can  sell   306  Bronx  lots    that  averaged.  $1300 
per  lot    in  1913  without   im-Drovements  and  a  ten    cent  fare  to 
Manhattan,    today  for   an  average  price   of  $800  per  lot,   wl  tn  sewers, 
sidewalks  and  curbs   and  a  five   cent   fare  to   all  pa^-^^>   of  the  Bronx, 
Brooklyn  and  Kew  York  City.      Located  in  Morris  Park,  Bronx.' 

-129- 


on   the   suTDway  froni  New  York.      Its   greatest  possilDilities    lie   in   the 
plans  for   the  developnent   of  a  nev:  seaport   en  Jamaica  Bay   to 
relieve   the  congestion   in   the   Hudson  and  East  River  piers.      The 
tenth  tract   is    in  the  Borough   of  Ridnnond.      This   also   shov/s  a  very 
heavy  loss.      Its   only  hops  lies   in  the  proposed  sulDway   tunnel  under 
the  llarro-ws  \7hich  v;ill  cut   in  half  the   travelling  tiue   to   Manhattan. 

These  auction  sales  were  all   in  "boroughs  v/hich,   as  we   shall _ 
see   later,    have   shov/n  healthy   increases   in  land  values   and  also   in 
population.      In  a  very  few  years   all  will  be  built  up  and  beconie 
developed  sections    of  Hew  York  City.      The   losses    that  have  been 
suffered  were   evidently  due    to   premature  subdivision  and   over- 
valuation at  the    time   of   the   sale.      In  view  of   the    constantly  in- 
creasing  costs   of   ripening  land  for  urban  use,    it   is    evident  that 
owners   of  vacant  land  must   reconcile  themselves   to   a   lower   present 
value.      The  value   of   such  land  should  be   determined  on  a  discount 
basis.      Maen  the   cost   of    carrying  vacant   land  is  high   the  value 
of  unimproved  land  not   yet  ready  for   use  must  be   correspondingly 
low.      As    a  city  becomes    older  and  more  mature   its  rate   of   growth 
is   likely  to  be  lower  than  in  the  earlier  years    of   its  developments. 
If   so,    it  v/ill   talce  longer   now  for   a  tract   of  undeveloped   land  to 
mature   as  urban  land  than  it   took  at  an  earlier  period   for  a  similar 
tract  to   reach  maturity.      These  changing   conditions   should  be  recog- 
nized and   tal:en  into  consideration  in  the   development   of   nev;  land. 
In   the  liglat   of   the   experience   of   the   last  eiglit  years    it    is    evident 
that  the  man  who  paid  $2434   for  his    lots   at  Morris  Park   should  have 
paid  only  about  §900,   assuming  that   the  present  valuation   is 
justified.   His   land  would  then  have   doubled  in  value   in  the   eight 
years  and  his   investment  would  have   yielded  him  about  four  per  cent 
interest. 

Recently  in  New  York  there  has  been  a  great   revival   of  land 
auctions.      It   is   reported  that  Josepli  P.   D?.y.    'the   auctioneer,   wiio 
sold  Morris  Park   in^l915>    sold  |28,000,000  v/orth  of  lots    in  1921. 
If  his   commission  is   the  visual   five  per   cent  above  the   cost   of 
advertising,    it   is    evident   that  he  receivea  over  a  million  dollars 
for  his   year's  work.      It  will  be   interesting  to   v/atch  some   of   the 
tracts   sold  recently  to    discover  whether  his   powers   of  persuasion 
are   still   great   enough  to    induce  purchasers   to   pay  $2434   for   lots 
which  will  be  worth  ;5l800   in   1950. 

Ilr.   Day  himself  is   not   ignorant  of  "these  matters.      Some   of  his 
remarks    in   ?jn  address  before  a  Y.II.C.A.    class    in   real   estate    in  1937 
are  very  illuminating.     He   first  described  the   right  kind  of   an 
auction  sale   "where   the  lots   are  properly  developed  and  all  iyaprove- 
ments   are   in."      Then  to    quote  his    own  words:-   "The  wrong  kind  of 
lot   sa]es  at  auction  are   the   kind  v^here  tracts   are   sv^ddenly   opened 
up,    a  scraper   iv.n   through,    posts   stuck  in  the   ground  to    drnote  that 
this    is   such  and  such  a  street,    no  water  pipes,    gas   sewer,    curbs, 
sidev/alks   or  anything  else.      And  that  kind  of   a   sale,  ^ as   a  rule,    has 
a  brass   band  and  a  free  lunch,    to    get  your  stomach  axd  senses 
feeling  good  and  then  they  hand  ycu  v/hat  v/e   call   a  gold  brick, 

-130- 


because   anyone  that  buys  at   that  kind   of  a  sale  buys   as  a   rule   for 
a   rise,    or  maybe  to  build,      Let  us  say  they  buy   for  a  rise,  "^il/hat 
is  going   to  maice   the  rise?     It   is   th©  building  of  houses,   build- 
ings,  along  side   or   near  them.     .Tyell,    if   people  have  no  facilities 
for   getting  v;ater,    no   sewer   system,    or   if  on  a  rainy  day  they  have 
to  T7allc   in  six  inches   of  mud   to   get  anyvhere   on  account  of  no  side- 
vfallcs,    that   is    not  going  to    attract  them,    no  matter  hov;  poor  they 
are.      They  would  rather  stay   in  their   tenement   quarters.      And  that 
answers   the   question  of  building.      So   every  person  as   a  rule,    that 
buys   a,  lot  in  an  undeveloped  section  like  that  v/hich  is   not  fortu- 
nate  enough  to   have  another  section  build  up   to   and  maXe  improve- 
ments   in   the  neighborhood  and  wal:e  a  demand  for  his  property,    he 
is   stuck.      Furthermore,    the   people  who  buy  these   lots   are   often 
poor,    and   if  assessments  are  made   for    improvements   they  let  the 
lots  go.      And  then  I  maintain  you  are  mailing  an  anemy  of   the 
purchaser."     Ur .   Day  sold  Morris  Park   six  years   after  he  made 
that  address.      He  undoubtedly  made   some  enemies    there,   but   there 
were   still  plenty  of  purchasers   left  for  his   lots    in  1921. 

The  history  of   the   development  of   subdivisions  around  New 
York   entirely  aside  from  the   auction  business   reveals   many  sordid 
stories   of  outriglit   swindling,    such  as   the   selling   of  lots  which 
did  not   exist  and  actual  lots  which  were   located   in  salt  marshes 
which  will  not  be  reclaimed   for   a  generation  at   least.      Then  tiiere 
have  been  sharp  practices    in   the  sale   of  perfectly  good  lots   such 
as  am  instance" reported  in  the  Real  Estate  Record  and  Guide   for 
June   10,    1910.     A.  group  of  promoters  bought  a  large  vacant  block 
in  the  Bronx  and  petitioned  the  Board  of  Estimate   to    cut   a  new 
street   through  the  property.      As   soon  as   their  petition  was 
granted  they    sold  the   lots   on  each  side   of   the   proposed  new   street, 
retaining   to    themselves   the    title   to  the   land  to  be  used  for  street 
purposes.      Yjhen  the  street  was  completed  the    promoters    collected 
from  the   city  an   award  for  the    title  to   the   street  property  of 
$42,441.      The   city  then   levied  a  special  assessment   of   $45,339   on 
the  adjoining  property  ov/ners  who  had  purchased  of   the   prom.oters, 
to   cover   this   award  and  expenses.     This,    of   course,   was   all   entire- 
ly within  the   law  and  the  property  owners  had  no   recourse. 

Aside   from  the   loss   to    the    purchasers   resulting  from  the 
premature  subdivision  of  land  there   is  also   frequently  a  social 
loss    through  the    opening  and  paving  of  streets,    the  building   of_ 
sewers   and  the  extension  of  v/ater  mains   far   in  advance   of  legiti- 
mate need.      These   improvements  are   expensive   and   the   interest   item 
on  the   original   cost   is  material.      Then  the   sidewalks   and  pavements 
deteriorate   through  neglect  and  vhen   years   later  they  are   actually 
needed  the  work  must  be   done  all   over  again,    tiiis   time  at   the 
expense    of   the  city.      In  Morris  Park  tiiere   is   even  an  extension  of 
a  street  car   line  v/hich  still  remains   unused.      Then  in  some   cases 
there   is   social  loss   due   to    the   premature  v/ithdrawal   of    land  from 
agricultural   use.      This   loss  may  readily  be   overestimated,    however, 
since  all  urban  land  is  a  very  sirrs-ll  part  of  the   total   land  area 
of  the   country.      In  many  cases,    too,    this  loss   is    counterbalanced 
by  the   use   of  vacant  lots   for   gardening  purposes. 

-151- 


It  may  be   admitted  tiiat   the   last   few  years   have  "been  unusually 
bad  years    for   speculation   in   outlying   vacant    land.      Not    only  have 
taxes    increased   to  an  unprecedented   extent,    but  v/ar   conditions 
increased  building   costs,   making   it    difficult    to    improve   vacant 
land.      Then  iramigratipn  pr-actically  ceased  for    several  years   so 
that  the   rate   of   population  growth  in  New  York   City  v;as    only  about 
half  as  great   in  the  decade   1910-1920  as   in  the   previous  decades, 
nevertheless   it    is   evident   that   the   socially  necessary  costs    of 
bringing  agricultural  land  into    urban  use   are  raudi   greater  than 
prospective  home  builders   have  supposed  them  to   be.     Even  under   the 
most  favorable    conditions    it   appears  that  the   holding  of  vacant 
land  involves   heavy  costs,    for  which  the    ovmer  can  be    compensated 
only  by  an  extremely  rapid  appreciation  in  value,   which  can  come 
only  when  the  period  of   development  is   short.      Premature   sub- 
division,  with  a  lengthening   of  the  transition  period  from  agri- 
cultural  to  urban  use   is   certain  to   result   in  heavy  loss. 


-132- 


LECTUKE   IV 

Increnents   and  Decrements    in  Outlyinpr  Urban  Land 

In   this  lecture  I    shall   speak  nore   generally  of   land  values 
in  each  of  the   outlying  •boroughs    of  New  York  and  try   to   shovr  what 
have  been  the  underlying   causes  \'\iiich   in  recent  years   have   resulted    ■ 
in  gains    or   losses   to    the   ovmers    of    this   great  area   of  land  which 
has   been  ripening   into   urban  use.      The   total  value   of    this    outlying 
land   is  far  less   than  the  value   of    the  highly  improved  land  on  the 
lovjer   end   of  Manhattan  Island,    but  in   our   study   of   urban  land 
problems    the    course   of  development   of   these   outlying   areas  has   a 
more   direct  bearing   on  our   rea^l   problems   than  has  the    development 
of   those  extremely  high  values    in   the  business   sections   of  Man- 
hattan.     The  unique   character   of   these  high  values   is  best  under- 
stood by  the  astonishing   fact    that   the   land  value   of  Manhattan 
Island  with  its   24   square  miles    is   greater  than  the    land  value 
of  all  the   remaining  boroughs    combined,   v/ith  all   of   Chicago  and  all 
of  Boston  added  for   good  measure.      As    compared  v;ith  agricultural 
land   the   value   of   the   land  on  Manhattan  Island  is   approximately 
equal   to    the  acreage   value   of  all    the   farm  land   in  the   State   of 
Iowa,    or    of   that   in  the   States    of  Uev/  York  and  Wisconsin   combined. 

But  Manhattan,    as  we  have  seen,    has   for   fifteen  years  main- 
tained practically  stationary  land  values,    and  one  may  even  venture 
to  advance   the  theory  that  much   of   the  land   in   this  borough  has 
reached   its  maxLmvim  of  utilization,    and  that   generally  speaking 
sites   on  Manhattan  Island  will   not   be  made  more   productive    than 
they  are   today.      It  'is    possible   that   in  the   futm-e   it   will  be  found 
mare  profitable   to    spread   the  business   sections    of  Nev/  York    out 
over  a  vfider   area,    using   land   of    lower  rental  value,    than  to  bring 
about  any  more   intensive  use   of  a  fev/  strategic  blocks,      v/e  have 
already  noted   this   expansion   in  the  retail  shopping  district. 
Twenty   five   years   ago    this    district  was  confined  to  Broadway  from 
Astor   Place   to   23rd  Street,    Fourteenth   Street,    Tv/enty-third  Street 
and  ilfth  and  Sixth  Avenues   between  these  streets.      This  v/hole  area 
Eovered  only  about  t7/enty  blocks.      Now  the   shopping   district  begins 
belov/  34th  Street  and   extends  for  more   than  twenty  blocks   along 
S'ifth  Avenue  alone,   while  John  V/anamaker  still   remains,    26  blocks 
farther   south,    at  Astor  Place.      Even   the    financial   district   is 
expanding.      The   Nev/  Curb  Exchange  was  built  two  blocks  v;est   of 
Broadway,    and   several  years   ago    the  liVoolworth  Building  and   the 
Hudson  Terminal  Building  were  built  north  and  west   of   the    old 
financial   section  and   tiie  'vi/liitehall  Building   at  the  extreme   south 
on  Battery   Park.      This    expansion   of  business   tends   to    increase 
values    in  the  blocks   newly  utilized  for  business   but   it  may  tend 
at    the   same    time   to    equalize   values   ai'id  keep  all  at   a  lower    level. 
This  expansion   of  business,    and  manufacturing  as  well,   was   en- 
croaching   on   some   of   the  most   valuable   residence  property   in  Man- 
hattan until   these  residence   sections  were  protected  by  zoning  laws, 
and  manufacturing  in  particular  has   encroached  on  tenement   districts, 
so   that   the  population  of  Manhattan  is   no   longer   increasing-      The 

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growth  of  the   future   is    bound   to   "oe   greatest   in   the  outlying 
boroughs.     And  as   these   outlying   districts  grow,    new  lousiness 
centers   are   developing  which   in   themselves  have   the  appearance   of 
the  'business   districts    of   an   important    city.      Brooklyn  has    for 
many  years  had  an   important   shopping   center   of    its    own  with  at 
least   tliree   large   department   stores  which  compare   favorably  with 
those   in   the  vicinity  of  34th  Street   in  Manhattan.      In  the  Bronx 
the  most   important  business    center   is    at   the   corner   of   149th   Street 
and    3rd  Avenue,   with  many  smaller   centers    of    local  business 
scattered  over  the  borough  v/here  before  the    consolidation,    small 
suburban  villages   ^ere  located.      In  Q,ueens    there   are  four  very 
distinct    centers    of   population.      The  most   important   is  Long   Island 
City  with  many  important  factories,   comparable   in  itself  to    a 
manufacturing   city  like  Grand  Rapids,    Michigan.      Jaraaica   is   a 
large  residence   suburb   of  about    100,000   population  with  its   ov/n 
business    center,    connected  with  17ew  York  by   two  main  lines    of 
railroad,    an   elevated  line  and  surface   cars.      Flushing  on  Long 
Island  Sound,    also  has   its   own  center  and  is  more   like  a   distinct 
small   city   than  any  other  part   of  Greater  New  York..     Finally 
Rockaway,    a  sumiaer   city  built  along   the   ocean  front,    also   has   its 
individuality   different    from  that   of   any   other  part   of  Mew  York. 
The   Borough  of  Richmond  as   I   have  said  before  has   a  population  of 
only  a  hundred  thousand.     Here   there   is  no  appearance   of   a  city, 
only  a  succession  of  villages   each  "dth  its   ovm  groceries  and  small 
dry  goods   stores. 

Each  of    these   smaller  urban   centers    in   the   different  boroughs 
has    its    own  character  and  their   rapid  growth  may  mean   that  a  de- 
centralizing process   is  setting   in,  which  may  eventually  diminish 
the    relative   importance   of  Manhattan   in  the  economic   life    of    the 
city.     Manhattan  has  already  lost   its   political  predominance,    for 
Brooklyn  alone  now  polls  a  heavier  vote  than  Manhattan,    and  a 
Brooklyn  man  is  mayor   of  the    city.      This   same  process    is   going  on 
in  other  cities.      Even  though  absorbed  in  the   larger   city   in  name, 
these  satellite  cities   retain   their  separate   identity   just  as    do 
otrier  satellite   cities  which  remain  outside  politically.      And  as 
these  new   centers   grov/  each  vdth  its    industries,    stores,    banks   and 
theatres,   with   improved   transportation  more   and  more   equalizing  the 
accessibility    of  different   sections,   may  there   not  be  a  tendency 
to  break  down  much  of  that  high   differential  which  now  exists 
between  the  great  business    centers   on  the   one  hand  and  these  smaller 
centers    on  the   other? 

From  the   last  lecture  I  may  have  conveyed  the    impression  that 
land  values    in  the   outlying  boroughs   of  New  York    City   v;ere   not 
increasing.      If   so ,    I  want   to    correct   that   impression   today.      In 
addition   to    our  intensive   study   of   vacant  tracts   and  tracts   sold 
at  auction  a  study  was   also   made   of   the   actual   increases    in  land 
value,    both   gross    and  net,    in  the   five  borou.^hs,    taking  each 
borough  as   a  whole.      The  Nevi/  York  City   Tax  Department  has   reported 
in  each   year  since   1910  the   number  and    total   valuation   of  vacant 
parcels    in  each  borough.     By   obtaining  the  ratio   in  each  year 

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since  1910  between  the   value  of  vacant  land  and  the  value  of  all 
land  and  projecting  this  series  of  ratios  back  to  1906,  on  the 
assunption  that  the  trend  of  tiiese  ratios  before  1910  was  similar 
to  the  trend  .since  that  date,  we  e'stabiished  a  basis  for  an 
estimate  of  the  carrying  charges  on  the  land  in  each  borough.  The 
value  of  the  land  was  then  estimated  for  1905  and  for  1921  by  a 
comparison  of  sales  with  assessed  valuations.  The  Tax  Department 
never  totalled  the  special  assessments  by  boroughs  so  it  v;as 
necessary  to  go  to  the  original  records  and  add  these  assessments 
by  boroughs  and  by  years.   As  in  the  more  intensive  studies,  all 
special  assessments  were  included  as  carrying  charges,  vliile  taxes 
and  four  per  cent  compound  interest  on  the  1906  value  and  on  the 
tax  and  assessment  payments,  were  computed  only  in  proportion  to 
the  value  of  vacant  land.   In  Manhattan  these  carrying  charges 
were  relatively  small,  since  there  was  compe.ratively  little  vacant 
land.   They  v/ere  sufficient  hov^ever  to  turn  a  gross  increment  in 
value  of  1.4  per  cent  into  a  net  decrement  of  4.8  per  cent  of  the 
land  value  in  1921.   In  the  Bronx  the  gross  increment  was  23.6 
per  cent,  but  here  the  vacant  land  was  a  considerable  factor,  and 
the  various  carrying  charges  turned  this  increment  into  a  net 
decrement  of  35.1  per  cent  of  the  value  in  1921.   In  all  other 
boroughs  however  there  was  a  net  decrement  after  allov;ing  for  all 
special  assessments,  and  carrying  charges  on  vacant  land.   In 
Brooklyn  this  increment  was  only  7.8  per  cent  in  the  whole  sixteen 
years,  but  in  Q^ueens  it  was  26.5  per  cent  and  in  Richmond  28.6  per 
cent.   In  view  of  the  heavy  loss  on  the  tract  in  Richmond  which  was 
sold  at  auction  in  1906  it"  is  rather  surprising  to  find  the  higjiest 
net  increment  in  this  borough.  But  in  the  first  place  it  must  be 
admitted  that  for  Riclxmond  the  data  for  i:iai:ing  the  estimates  of 
value  bo  til  in  1906  and  in  1921  was  very  unsatisfactory,  and  there 
may  be  a  considerable  error  in  the  estimates.  Then  the  increases 
in  value  have  been  very  largely  in  the  improved  sections  of  the 
borough.   Accordingly,  the  valuation  of  the  vacant  land,  much  of 
it  in  hills  and  marshes,  is  very  low  and  since  the  carrying  charges 
are  computed  on  the  value  of  vacant  land  the  cost  is  proportionately 
much  lower  than  in  Queens  where  there  is  a  large  amount  of  vacant 
land  having  great  potential  value.  Then  in  Ridimond  special  assess- 
ments in  sixteen  years  amounted  to  less  than  five  per  cent  of  the 
present  value  of  the  land  as  compared  with  ten  per  cent  in  Queens 
and  16.6  per  cent  in  the  Bronx. 

The  actual  amounts  levied  in  special  assessments  in  the  five 
boroughs  are  particularly  interesting  as  ti-^ese  special  assessments 
represent  direct  costs  of  the  development  of  land.   In  the  Broru: 
special  assessments  amounted  to  $;60,281,000  in  Brooklyn  $51,798,000 
in  Queens  $34,316,000,  in  Ilanhattan  .1?19,719.000  and  in  Richmond 
$3,193,000.   In  Manliattan  special  assessments  are  now  relatively 
small,  for  the  sev/ers  are  all  constructed  and  all  the  streets  are 
paved  except  a  few  short  streets  in  the  extreme  northern  end.  The 
heaviest  assessments  in  tiie  next  few  years  v.all  probably  be  levied 
in  Queens  with  its  large  area  ready  for  development.   If  Richmond 
is  ever  fully  developed,  the  cost  will  be  unusually  heavy,  for 
there  will  be  such  engineering  problems  to  be  solved  as  grading  on 
the  hills  and  filling  and  draining  in  the  marshes.   Since  in 

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Q,ueens    the    rate   of   irxreace   in  land  value  was   so   high  a  separate 
study  v/as  made  here  ty  v/axds    in  order  to    locate   the  area  having 
the   greatest  net   incren^nt.    The   greatest  gross   jncrement  was    in 
the. Second  Tard,   knovm  as  rev.'toT;n  \/hich  lies  between  Long  Island 
City  and   JaiTa,ica  along  the   railway  and  Queens  Boulevard.      The 
land  value   of   this  ward   increased   in  sixteen  years    from  $25,000,000 
to   $86,000,000.     But  here   the    carrying  charges   "brought   the   total 
cost   to    $63,000,000   thus   reducing  the    net   increment   to  $25,000,000. 
In  Long  Island  City,    land  values    increased  fron  $34,400,000  to 
$80,500,000   out  the    total   cost  as    computed  amounted  to    $76,500,000, 
leaving   only  $5,000,000  as   a   net   increment.      In  Jamaica  also,    the 
costs  absorbed  the   greater  part  of  the  gross    increment   of  value, 
although  here  as   in  ITev.'tov/n  the  holding  of   land  yielded  a  material 
investment   return  above   costs.      The   greatest  net   increments  however 
were  not    in  the   most  rapidly  developing  wards  but   in  the  remote 
v/ards    of  Flushing  and  Rockaway.      In  these  wards  the  gross   increase 
was   not  as  rapid  as   in  llev/tov/n  and  Jamaica,   but   there  v/ere  very 
few  special  assessments    and  the  taxes  and    interest   charges   on 
vacant  land  were   relatively  low.      In  Flushing  the   total  net   incre- 
ment ?,bove   costs  was   39  per  cent  and  in  Rockav/ay   49  per  cent.      In 
Rockaway   this   is   all  the  more   remarkable  because   the   increase   in 
value  took  place  almost   entirely  in  the   years  from  1906   to    1911. 
In  the    last   ten   years  values    in  Rockaway  have  been  practically 
stationary  and  those  who  purchased  in  1910  and  1911  have   suffered 
heavy  loss.      In  Flushing  v;e    can  see   the  process    of   inflation  of 
the  value   of  large  areas   of  vacant  land  far   in  advance   of   its 
development-      Probably  most   of   this   land   is   nov;  held  for 
speculation.      There   is   still    enough  vacant  land  nearer  New  York  to 
accomodate   the   increase   of   population  for  m^-ny  years  to   come,    and 
recent  purchasers  at  present  prices  will  probably  find  it   rather 
expensive  to   hold   this    land  until   it   is   ripe   for   urban  use. 

V;'e  have   been   considering  the  actual   figures   of  gross    and  net 
increments    of   value    in  Nev/  York   urban  land.      ^.Vliat   then   is    the 
lesson  in  more  general   terms?     ^.Thether   there  has  been  a  net  gain 
or  a  net   loss   one   fact   stands    out   clearly  in  the   study   of    every 
parcel  and   tract   of  land  investigated  and   in   the    studies   of _  the 
various  boroughs.      That   is   the  staggering,    and  ever   increasing^ 
cost    incident  to    the    ovmership   of   land.      Take  first   the   item  of 
taxes.     Before   the   Civil  Var    the  tax  rate   in  New  York  had 
averaged  about  one  per   cent   over  a  period  of  twenty  years.     Land 
was   assessed  at  about   fifty  per   cent   of   its  true  value.      The 
actual   tax  rate  was    therefore   about   one  half   of   one  per  cent.   Even 
in  1906   the   rate   on  true  value  was   only  1.12  per    cent,   but   in  1921 
it   was   2.77   on  the   assessed  value   in  Llanhattan  and   2,63   in  the 
Bronx.     Even  correcting  on  our  assumption  that  land  is  assessed  at 
95  per    cent  of    its   value   in  Manhattan  the   rate   on   true   value   is 
at   least  2,63   or  more   th^n  five   times   as  high  as    in   the  years  when 
John  Jacob   Astor  was  buying  land  in  advance  of  the   growth   of   the 
city.     And  there   is   no   indication  that   the  present   tax  rate  v;ill  be 
materially  reduced.      The   ccst   of  adrainistering   the   affairs    of   the 
city   has   increased  and  the  cit;;,'-    is    constantly  expanding   its 

-156- 


econonic   activities   and   its   pu'olic   service.      The    costs    of    the 
schools,    tiie   police  and  fire   departments  are  continually  increasing, 
and  nolDody  vants   these  services  curtailed.       iln   the   old  day?   little 
attention  v/as   paia   to    the   cleaning  of  streets.      ITov/  people  demand 
clean   streets  and   also    demand  that  pavements   be   kept   in  repair.   In 
the  v/inter,    snov;  must  be   removed.      A  moderately  heav^,"-  snov/   fall 
nov;  costs    tlie    city   over  half  a  million  dollars,    and  the   cost  of 
a  heavy  snov;   like  that   of   February,    1921,    runs    into    millions.      The 
subways  have  been  built  by   the    city,   and  interest  must  be   paidon 
subY/ay  bonds.      The    cost   of   maintaining  the   pari:s  and  public  build- 
ings  is   constantly  increasing,    although  the   present  administration 
has    economized  by  cutting   down   1l\e   i:'ublic   Library  appropriations. 
The    taxes   on  vacant  land   constitute  a   very  material  part   of  the 
revenue    of   the   city.      In  Greater  Hew  York    there  v:ere   in  1920, 
192,021  vacant   parcels    of  real  estate  valued  for   taxation  at 
$549,000,000.      Since   a  parcel   is    considered  improved  if  there   is 
any  building  whatever   on  the   land,    it   is    evident   that  there  must 
be  many   thousand  more  parcels  vhich  are  practically  vacant.      On 
the    first   of  the   vacant   parcels   described   in  my  second  lecture 
there   is    a  house  T/hich   in  1920  was   valued  for    taxation  at   $2,000. 
It   is   really  worthless,    as    it  would  have   to  be   torn  down  before 
the   land   could  be  profitably  used,   but   from  the   point   of  viev/  of 
the   tax   department   this    is  an   improved  parcel.     But   even   on  the 
figures    of  the    tax  departraent ,    the   owners    of  vacant   land  pay 
$16,000,000  a  year   in  taxes.      In  Queens    alone   vacant   land   pays 
over  $4,000,000  a  year  or  20  per   cent   of   the    total  revenue   of  the 
borough.      In   the  Bronx  it  pays   16.5  per    cent,    in  Riclii-aond  14.2 
per   cent,    and    in  Brooklyn   5.6  per   cent.      In  Manhattan,    however, 
with  only  three  per   cent   of   the   parcels  vacant,    the  vacant    land 
pa^z-s    only  2.2  per   cent   of   the    taxes.      This    same   situation  un- 
doubtedly  obtaine   in  other   cities   and    certainly   the   tax  rates   m 
all   cities  have  greatly  increased. 

iIo'.7  as  to    special  assessments.     Before   1860   the   cost   of 
sewers   and  pavements  vms   absurdly  low.      There  were  very   few 
assessments   amounting   to   more   than  $100  a  lot.      The    total   amount 
of   the   assessments   levied  on  the  parcel   on  Pifth   Avenue   near   39th 
Street  since  1845  has  been  only  $1031   or  about   $4000   for   a  block 
front  and    this   included  paving   and   sewers.      One    of    the   Fifth 
Avenue  vacant  parcels,    the  whole  block  front  between  95th  and  96th 
Streets    in  vihich    improveiTients  were  made  a  fev7  years    later,    has 
paid  $10,355   in  assessments   since    1856.      The  Riverside  Drive   parcel 
Pvlso   a  block   front,    on  v;hich  most   of   the   assessments  were   levied 
from  1880  to    1900  has   paid  $21,689   since   1880.      In  Morris   Park 
since   1913   the  sewers  along  have   frequently   cost   $400  a  lot   or 
$3200  a  block  front  and  the    other   improvements  are  hardly   started. 
These  costs   can  be   little   if  any  lower   elseviiere,    for   the   greater 
part   of    the   cost   is    in  labor   and   in  materials  which  are   no  more 
expensive   in  New  York   than  elsewhere. 

There  are   other   costs    of   land  holding  vhich    cannot  easily  be 
computed,    but  which   often  amount   to   a    considerable   sum-      The   owner 
may  pay    for  draining,    grading,    fencing,    or    clearing  the   land.     Ke 

-137- 


may  "be   called  upon  for    contributions  for   local   improvements 
privately  rrade  by  property   owiers   in  the   neighborhood. 

Then  as   to    the   interest  charges.      .\s  we  have   seen   the   owner 
very  often  pays  at  least   six  per   C3nt   interest   on  a  large   part   of 
the  purclmse   price,    and  he  could  easily  obtain   four  per   cent   in 
an  alternative   investment.      Sven  though  v/e  may  not  believe    that   a 
person  is   justified   in  obtaining   interest   simply   for   holding   vacant 
land,    still  from  the  owner's   point    of   view  interest   is  an  actual 
cost.      In  the   outlying  sections  around  New  York    it   has   not  been, 
until   very  recently,    at  least,    socially  desirable    for  buildingto 
taiie  place  more  rapidly.      Therefore  the   owner  has   not  been  anti- 
social  i-n  holding  land  out  of  use.     Even  assioraing  that  he  pai  d_ 
more    than  the   land  was  worth   in  the  first  place,    there  were   still 
the   tax  and  assessment   payments,   which  he  was   obliged  to    pay.      If 
he  had  deposited  the  same  amounts   in  a  savings  bank  he  would  have 
received  four  per   cent   compound   interest.      Under   our  present 
system   of  land   tenure   somebody  had  to   hold  this    land,    so    it    does 
not    seem  unreasonable  to    allow  at  least  four   per   cent   interest  as 
a   part   of  the   carrying    charges   en  vacant   land.       This  means  then 
that   the   annual   cost   of    carrying  vacant  land   is   from   6  l/2   to    7 
per   cent  plus  the  actual  amounts   of   special   assessments.      In  the 
ten  auction  sale  tracts   the  payments    for   special   assessments   have 
been  slightly  more    than  the    ta>:es   since  the   dates   of   sale.      This 
would  indicate   that  during  the   period   of  development   the    total 
carrying   cost  under  present  conditions    is  at  least   ten  per   cent 
a  year.      If   tiierefore   vacant   land    is    to    pay   as   an    investment   it 
must   increase    in  value    ten  per   cent   a  year  which  means    that   it  must 
double   in  value   in  eight  years. 

In  a,ll    this   discussion   of  increm.ents   and  decrem.ents    the 
changing  value   of    the   dollar  has   been   left   out   of   consideration. 
In   the   course    of   the    investigation,  however ,    some    such   computations 
v/ere  made.      Since  the  value   of    land  in  dollars  was  falling  while 
the    value   of   the   dollar  v/as   also   falling,    land  values  at  the   1913 
price   level  were  for   three  years   during  and  after   the  war  below 
fifty  per  cent  of  their  value   in  1913.      The   carrying   charges  more- 
over  increased  rapidly  during   this   period,    so    if  our   computations 
v;ere   entirely  expressed   in   terms    of  the   1913   dollar  the   increments 
even  in  Cj,ueena  would  be   changed  to   decrements,   and  the  losses   else- 
where would  be  staggering.      This,    however,    is  hardly  fair,   because 
the  extreme    fluctuations    in   the   general   price  were   only   temporary, 
and  with  a  return  to    normal   conditions   land  values  will  undoubtedly 
recover   their   losses. 

But  even  aside   from  the   changing  price   level  v/e  have    seen 
that  vacant  land   does   not  have   real    investment   value.      For   siiort 
periods    in  a  rapidly  rising   real  estate  market  speculation   in 
vacant  land   is   often  profitable,    but  where  values  are  stationary 
or   only   increasing  at  a  moderate   rate,    the   costs    of  holding  land 
will   turn  an  apparent  profit   into  a   loss.      The   studies   of    vacant 
lots    in  Manhattan,    of    la.rge    tracts    in   the  nev/er   sections   of   the 
city,    and   of  the   outlying  boroughs,    taking   each  borough  as   a  v^iole, 
all   point  to    the   same  conclusion,    and  show  the   fallacy   in  the   i. 
popular  assumption  that   large  profits   are  made  by  holding   out   of 
use   land  which  is  urgently  needed  for  the    development   of  the   city. 

-138- 


LECTUPji;  V. 

The   Rent   of  Land  and  the    Cost   of  Housing. 

The  value   of   land  is  fundamentally  determined  'ay   its    econoxaic 
rent.      Since   economic  rent   is   the   actual   or  potential   income 
attributable    to    land,    the  value   of  land  is,    in   the  absence   of 
other   considerations,    the   capitalized  value   of   the  economic   rent. 
When  the   value  of   land   is  made    "the   basis    of   direct   taxation,    the 
economic   rent   is   divided  betv/een  the   ovmer  and  the    government. 
Thus  v/hat  we   speak  of  as   value    is   simply   the   ov/ner's   rent 
capitalized.      The  value   of  land  is   determined  therefore   not   only 
by  its   actual   or    potential   income,   but  by  the  prevailing  rate   of 
interest,    on  the  basis    of  which  the   rent   is   capitalized.      I  have 
already  spoken  of   the   influence   of  taxation  on  land  values,   but 
now  v/e    can  determine  more   accurately  hov  great  this    influence   is. 
Suppose  we   take  the  value  of   the   land  as  V,    then   the   owner's  rent 
is    this   value  multiplied  by    tLie  prevailing  rate   of    interest  or^  Vi . 
Then  the  Government's    share   of  the   rent  may  be   represented  by  Vt, 
or    the   value  multiplied  by  the   tax  rate.      The   total   econoraic  rent 
is  then  Vi   plus  Vt.      Then  let  us   take   the  value  v;hich  the    land 
would  have   if  it  were  not   taxed  at  all,    as  U   or   the  untaxed  value. _^ 
Then  Ui    is  the  economic   rent.      Ve   now  have  the   equation  Vi  +  Vt   -  Ui 

from  which  we  get     U  =     ^(      ^      )  -"^       Assuming  for   the  sake   of 

simplicity  that   land   is  assessed  at   its   true   value  and  assuming 
that   the   prevailing   interest   rate   is    5  per  cent,    we  have  then  in 
New  York   in  1921,    V  equal  to    p. 295, 000,000;    i    equal   to    .05  and  t 
eoual  to    .0277,  we   find  that  the    untaxed  value   of   the   land   in 
Manhattan  in  1921  was   ^3,295,000,000  multiplied  by  7.77   or 
$5,120,000,000.      Correcting   this   on  the   basis    of    ■      ^  a   95  per 

cent  assessment   the  untaxed  value   is  $5,300,000,000. 

How  by  the   same   process   va  th   a   correction  for  the   difference    in 
the    ratio   of  assessed  valuation,    the  untaxed  value   of  the   same    land 
in  1906  was   $4,170,000,000.      In   other  words,    if    no   taxes  at  all 
had  been   imposed  and   all   otlier  factors   had  remained  the   same, 
laaniiattan  land  values   instead  of    increasing  less   than   two   per   cent 
in  sixteen  years  would  have    increased  27  per   cent   in  the  same 
period. 

This   shows    that    in  lilanhattan  the    laaid  has  been   taxed  so  high 
in  the   past   sixteen  years  as   to   absorb  practically  the  whole  net 
increment   in  value.      A  further   increase    in   the  tax  rate  would 
further   depress  values,    and,    as  we  know,    a  tax  which  would  absorb 
the  "hole   rental   value   of   the   land  would  be  equivalent   to    complete 
confiscation.      It  would,    however,  be   very  difficult  to  absorb   the 
whole   rental  value   of  the   land  simply  by  increasing  the  tax  rate. 
This    can  be  shown  ^j-j  a  modification   of  the   fonnula  given  above. 


1)   This  formula  is    taken  from  a  study  nov;  in  preparation  by 
Mr.    CB.    Thompson   of   Columbia  University. 


-139- 


Suppose  a  single   tax  administration   in   its  effort   to   taKe   the  full 
rental  value   of   the   land  imposes   a  tax  of  five  per   cent  on  land 
with  exemption  of   improvements.     Let  us   suppose   that  U,    the   untaxea 

.-   -     (i+t)       .r  =  i_i_l  U 
value,   remains   constant.      Then  sim  e      u (1~)'  (i+t) 

or  $5,300,000,000  multiplied  by  -—-7     or  l/2.      The  taxed  value 

would,    therefore,   be  reduced  to   $2,650,000,000  and   the    yield  of 
the   tax  would  be   only  $132»500,000   as   compared  with  the    present 
tax  yield  on  land  and  buildings    of  $151, 500 ,000  .      A  tax  of    ten 
per   cent  on  land  values  would    cause   a  reduction   in  value   to 
$1,770,000,000   and  would  yield  only  $25,000,000  more    than  the 
present   tax  on  land  and  buildings. 

It    is   evident,   hov/ever,    that   in  l^evr  York,    the  single   tax  on 
land  values,  if   the    difficulties    of  collection   could  be   overcome, 
would  yield  more   revenue    than  is  produced  by  the   present  rate   of 
taxation   on  land  and  buildings.      Assuming  that  the   prevailing  rate 
of   interest  is   five  -oer   cent,    the    total   economic   rent  according  to 
our   formula  is  $256,100,000    in  Manhattan,    $69,600,000    in  Brooiclyn, 
$28,600,000   in  the  Bronx.    $24,300,000    in  q,ueens    and  s^4,600,000  m 
Richmond.      The   T)resent  tax  yield  on  land  and  buildings    is 
$151,500,000   in  Manhattan,    $65,600,000    in  Brooklyn.    $21,800,000   m 
the  Bronx,   $13,400,000  in  C,ueens  and  $3,300,000   in  Richmond.   This 
gives  as   the   ratios   of  liie   present   tax  to   the    economic  rent,    59 
in  Manhattan,    91  In  Brooklyn,    76.5   in   tiie  Bronx,    76  in  Queens   and 
73   in  Riclimond.      For   the  whole   city   the   economic   rent   in  1921  was 
$383,100,000  and  the   tax  yield  $258,700,000   a  ratio   of   67.5.      If    _ 
the   prevailing  interest   rate   is  taken  as   four  per  cent   the  economic 
rent  would  still  have  been   greater  than   the   1921   taxes    in  all   the 
boroughs  with   the   exception   of  Brooklyn,    in  which  borou^.    there 
would  have  been  a  deficit   of  about  $3,000,000- 

The  economic   rent   of  vacant   land   is   potential,    determined  by 
the  anticipated  rental     of   the   laiid  as    it  will   later  be   improved. 
As  we  have   seen,    very  little   vacant   land  yields    interest   on   the 
price  at  which  it   is  held   through  net    increments    in  value.      Nor 
does   improved  land  always   yield  an  income   equal    to    its    full   economic 
rent.      The   improvement  must  be  adapted  to  the   land  improved.      The 
construction  and  operation  of  buildings    is   a  business    in   itself 
and   one  viiich  requires   a  high   type   of    ability  and   judgment-^     In 
every  city   a  very  large   proportion   of  the  buildings  are   eitlier 
inadequate,    obsolete,    misplaced  or    improperly  designed  for   the 
purpose    for  which  they  T;eTe  built.      ¥.o  such  building  v/ould  yield 
rentals    or   personal  satisfactions   sufficient  to    pay  for   operating 
exper^es    including   interest   and  depreciation  and   in  addition  give 
to    the   ov/ner    the  economic   rent   cf   the  land.      For   example    there   is 
the   "tax  payer"   building,    a   one   or  tvro   story  brick  or   frame  build- 
ing,   built  temporarily  on  land  which  would   support  a  block   of   ten 
or  more   stories.      There  are   old  buildings  which   should  be   replaced 
by  new  buildings;    there  are   residences    surrounded  by  factories   or 
office  buildings,    and  massive   stone   fronts    on  store  buildings  which 
need  large  vvindows   for  display  purposes. 

-140- 


In  the   TDast,    "buildings  have  been   constructed  without   fully 
counting   the*  cos  t   of   operation.      In  particular   the   factor    oi 
depreciation  or   amortization  has  been  overlooked.      It  lias  been 
assumed,    consciously  or   unconsciously,    that  the    increase    i"  ^"® 
value   of   the   land  would  counterbalance   the  depreciation  of   the 
building.      In  the  past   the   increase  was  frequently  sufficient   to 
take   care   of   this    factor.      Columbia  College  has  moved  two    or    three 
times,    and  in  each  case    is   said  to   have  profited  by  moving,    as   the 
land  on  which   the  buildings    stood  had  become  more  valuable   than 
the   original  cost   of   the   land  and  buildings    together.      But  as  we 
have  seen  these  land  increments    cannot  be   relied  upon  in  the 
future . 

It    is    clear  that  a  knowledge   of  the   probable   costs  and    income 
from  land   is   of   great  significance   to   the    land   owner   and  the 
prospective  home  builder,    but  how  about  the  vast  majority  m  a 
city  like  New  York  who  v/ill  alv/ays   remain  tenants,    and  who  may 
have   no   desire   to   own  land*^     L\any  people   of  wealth  prefer   apart- 
ments  to   houses  and  do  not  desire    the    responsibilities    of  real 
estate  management.     But  more    important   is   the  bearing   upon  the 
problem  of  housing  the  working  class.      As   a  writer   in  the   ¥.e^" 
Republic   expresses   it    (Editorial,    Sept.    8,    1920).    "The  great 
majority   of    our  working   population  are   no   longer   in   condition  to 
satisfy   their  housing  requirements  by   the   traditional  method  of 
self  help.      They  cannot   go    long  distances   from  their  work.      Their 
margins    of    time  and   income   are   too   slender.      Home   ownership   is   out 

of  the   question There  might  be  a  solution   in  the   cooperative 

ownership   of  multiple   dwellings,   but  that  presupposes  a  spirit    of 
cooperation  v;hich  can  not  simply  be   evoked  out   of   our   old   in-         ^ 
dividualistic   scheme   of  life,    but    can  only  be   evolved  with   time. 
The  worker  must  buy  his  housing  as  he  can  afford  it. 

Under   the  present  high  carrying   charges   on  land  and  buildings 
and  the  high  cost  of  building  materials,    not   only  is  the  workingraan 
unable  to    ovm   his   own  home  but   in   large   cities   one   or    even   tv;o 
family  houses    cannot  be  built   to   rent  v/ith-'.n  his    rent  paying^ 
capacity.      The   only  solution   is  the  multi  ■    a:rdly  house   in  \'*Lich  the 
operating   cost  per   family   is  reduced  and  which   of   course    involves 
the  use    of  a  smaller  area   of   land  per   family.      If  foi'   example   a 
six  room  house   is  built   on  land  worth  $2500,   which  would  probably 
be   the  cheapest   improved  la.nd  available,    five   percent   interest   on 
land  value  would  amount   to    about   $2,00  per    room  per  month    or    ^12 
per  month   for   the  house.      In  a  fairly  good  residence    district   on 
the  west  side    of  Manhattan  near   23rd  Street,    there   is   a    six   story- 
tenement   of    a  good  type  which    is    occupied  by   families    of 
approximately   the  same   income   as   those  who  would  live    in^  a  six  room 
cottage    in  the  Bronx   or    far   out   in  Queens    or  Brooklyn.      Here   the 
land  is    valued  at  $30,000.      Tliere  are   21  rooms   and   six  baths   on 
each  floor.      Therefore   on  a   five  per   cent  basis    the   interest   on 
land  amounts   to    one   dollar  per  room  per  month. 

-141- 


In  view  of  the   agitation   for  a   different   system  of  land 
taxation  and   land   tenure   it   is   very  important    to    learn  just  v;hat 
effect  the  proposed  changes  v/ould  have  upon  the   •cost  of  housing. 
Ver^,-   little  material   of   tliis   sort  has   ever  been   collected,   but   I 
have   data  in  regard  to   tvo  apartment  houses    in  New  York  which   seem 
to  throv/  some  light   on  the  prolyl  em.      The  first   of  these  buildings  _ 
is  the   tenement  building  referred  to   above.     Here  the    land  value    is 
$30,000  and  the  building  cost  was   $55,000.      The   costs    are    computed 
both  for   1914, -and  also  estimated  on  the   basis    of  present   costs   on 
a  similar  building   constructed  at  the  building   cost   of  1921.      In- 
terest  in  both  years   is  computed  at   6  per  cent. 

1914  1921 

Cost  Per  Room     i'tr  Cent     Cost  Per  Room     Per  Cent 
per  month  per  month 


Interest   on 
land  cost 

1.25 

15. 

1.25 

8. 

Interest   on 
Building    cost 

2.25 

27. 

5.- 

33. 

Taxes    (Land  and 
Building) 

1.- 

12. 

1.50 

10. 

Pue] 

.75 

9. 

1.50 

10. 

Salaries  and 

Ifenagement 

.60 

7.+ 

1.15 

7. 

Repairs 

.55 

7. 

1.- 

7. 

Insurance,   V/ater, 
Gas,    Sundries 

.25 

3. 

.45 

3« 

Lost    rent   7    l/2^" 

.50 

6. 

1.- 

7. 

Amortization 

1.10 

13. 

2.25 

15. 

^  8.25 


100 


$    15.10 


100. 


The   other  house   is  a   five   story  tenement  built   in   the 
Bronx  on  a  lot  fifty  feet  wide,    valued  at  $19,000.      The  building 
cost   in   1914  vras  ^35,000. 


-142- 


1914  1-921 

Cost  Per  RoDin  Per  Cent  Cost  Per  Room  Per  Cent 


P' 

er  month 

per  month 

Interest   on  Land 

.70 

8 

.70 

5. 

Interest   on  "building 

2.50 

29 

5.- 

33. 

Taxes   on   land  and 
Building 

.90 

10 

1.50 

10. 

Fuel 

.75 

9 

1.50 

10. 

Wages,    management,   etc. 

.30 

9. 

5 

1.35 

9. 

Insurance,   V/ater, 
Gas,    etc. 

.50 

6. 

.75 

4. 

Repairs 

.80 

9. 

.5 

1.50 

10. 

Lost  rent 

.40 

5. 

.- 

.40 

3. 

Amortization 

1.20 

14. 

.- 

2.40 

16. 

:^8.55 


100.- 


315.10 


100.- 


These  figures  are  of  interest  from  several  points  of  view. 
For  one  thing  vie  see  that  interest  on  the  land  and  the  taxes  on 
land  and  building  in  the  second  talDle  amounted  to  $1.60  in  1914 
and  $2.20  in  1921.  If  we  assume  that  all  land  is  ov/ned  by  the  city 
and  leased  for  its  full  rental  value  with  the  exception  of 
"buildings  from  taxation,  this  land  rent  would  evidently  be  sub- 
stituted for    these   items   of   interest  and  taxes.      Prom  our  formula 


V(i+t)    =  $678   in  1914  or 


$783   in  1921. 


Dividing  this  by   1056 


Ui 

the   number  of  room  months  we  have  0.64  as   the  economic   rent  per 
room  per  month  in  1914  and  $.74   in  1921.      This  would  appear  to 
indicate   a  monthly  saving   in   costs   of   from  $1.00  to    $1.50    per  room. 
But   in  1914  imny  apartments   in   this  house  rented  for  $7   per  room 
per  month.     Depreciation  or  amortisation  v;as   not    figured.      The 
same  would  probably  be    true    in  1921.      At   least  few  owners  v;ould 
figure   enough  depreciation  to   reduce  the  excessive   costs   of 
building   in  1921.     The   owners    consciously  ar   unconsciously   still 
count  on  the  value   increment      of   the   land  to    cover  the    depreciation 
of  the   building.      If  they    did  not  have   this   increment,    depreciation 
would  have   to   be   figured  in  full,   and  in  all  probability   there 
would  be   no    saving  in  costs   which   could  by  any  possibility  result 
in  lovjering  the  rentals    of   apartirents. 

In  any  case   it  is  not  at  all  certain  that  any  saving  vAiich 
could  be   effected   in   costs  v/ould  be  passed  on  to    the  tenant.      Re- 
lief to    the   tenant  wo  aid  be   more   likely  to   come   through  a 
stimulation  of  building  which  would   increase    the   number  of    apart- 
ments  and   thus   by  competition  reduce   rents.      But  here   the 
risic  incidental   to   uncertainty  of  future   land  rents, 
builders   hesitate  before    investing   tlieir  money    in  buildings 


increased 
would  make 
on 


-143- 


leased  land.      There  might  be   a   tendency   to   erect  more  buildings    of 
an   inferior   type  vhich  v;ould  yield  a  high  return  for   a   few  years 
and  which  would  not   in  themselves   tend  to    increase   tne  rental  value 
of  the   land  by  making   the  neighborhood  more   desirable.      In  view  of 
the  heavi--    costs    of  land  holding   it   is   probable   tliat  a  large  part 
of  the   land  not  ready   for   improveiaent  would   not  be   leased  at  all, 
thus    forcing  the   city  to   assume   the   carrying  charges. 

The  speculations  as    to    future    conditions   as   a  result    of 
possible    changes   in  the  economic  system  are  interesting  but   not  very 
profitable.      It   is   clear,    however,    that  whatever  may  be   the    imper- 
fections  and  injustices   of    our  present  system,    there  are   also 
dangers  and  pitfalls    in  the  proposed  systems   and   it   is  not   at  all 
certain  that  the   change  v;ould  be   for  the  better. 

The  ground  lease  system  as  betv;een  landowner  and  building  owner 
is    quite   usual   in  English    cities.      This   ground  lease   system 
approaches   actual  land  ownership  by  the    tenant  when    the  lease  is 
for    999   years  at  a  very  moderate   rental,   but   there  are  also   short 
tine   leases,   viaich  may  be  renev;ed  at  an  adjusted  rental.      This 
system  is  also  quite   common   in  New  Yorlc.     Many  of    the  great   land 
ov/ning  estates  and  trusts   such   as    tiie  Sailor's    Snug  Harbor, 
Trinity  Church,    the  Lorillard  Estate,    the  As  tor  instate,    Columbia 
College,    ex.d  others  have  leased  their  land  holdings,    usually 
through  a  tv/enty-one   year   renev;able  ground  lease.      This  lease 
system  offers  a  very  interesting   field  of    investigation.      The 
Sailor's   Snug  Harbor  is  a  home   for  retired  sailors,    now  located 
on  Staten  Island,   where  they   own  a   tract   of  several  hundred  acres 
with  an  unusually  find  and  complete  group  of   institutional  build- 
ings.     The   income    of   the   institution  comes   largely  from  ground 
leases   on  several  blocks   in  the  heart   of  the   old  retail   district 
of  Nev/  York   on  both  sides    of  Broadway  and  extending  west   to    Jiftl. 
Avenue.      This  land  land  has  been  leased  by   the   trustees   of   the 
institution  on  21  year  ground  leat.es   since  1827.      The  first  leases 
of  the  Broadway  lots  were  for    renta,ls   of  around  :|90  a  year.      At 
the    first  renewal   ihese   rents  were    increased  to    $350    a  year.      At 
the   last   renewal   the   ground  rents   averaged  $4,000  to    $5,000  a  lot. 

This    trust  and   also   Trinity   Church  and  the   Lorillard  estate 
which  are  also    located  in  this  part   of  the   city,    are  by  some  held 
at  least  partly   responsible    for  the   removal    of    the  business    center 
of   IJew  York   farther  up    town.      The  restrictions    of   the   ground  lease 
system,    and  the  refusal   of  the   trustees   to    improve  property  on 
their   ovm  account,    resulted   in  a   shortage   of  buildings  adapted  to 
modern  business   conditions.      Many  of  the   buildings    in   this   section 
were   from  fifty  to   a  hundred  years   old  and  still    they    could  not   be 
replaced  by   nev/  buildings-      The  result  v;as   that  the  whole   business 
center  moved  bodily  a  mile  and    a  half  north. 

This  explanation  of  the  move   is  very    interesting  but   there    is 
also    the    undoubted  fact  that  the   new  location   of   retail  business    is 
far  better   than  the   old   location.      The  best  residence  sections 
v/ere  already ■  still   farther   to    the   north  and  the   Grand  Central   rail- 
way terminal  was   a  Porty-Second  Street.      Later   the    great 

-144- 


Pennsylvania  Terminal  was   located  at  Thirty- -chird  Street  and  this 
with  the   development  of  subv/ays ,    including  the   Hudson  Tube    to 
Jersey'city,   Koboken  and  Newark,    gives    to    the   new  business    section 
a  strategic  advantage  v^ich    the    old  section   could  never  have  had. 

In    this   course   of   lectures   I  have  tried  to    present  the  most 
important   findings    of   a  year   of   research.      I   am  aware   that   I   have 
only   dipped  into    the  available  material  here  and  there.      No   great 
problems   have  been  solved,    but    I    do    feel   that  these  researches 
are  worth  continuing,    and  that  at  the   present  time   this   preliminary 
collecting   of  facts    is  mere   important    than  the   ambitious  development 
of   plans   for  changes   in  our   system  of   land  tenure   and   taxation 
without   a  broad  basis   of  fact. 


-145- 


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